Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Research  Library,  The  Getty  Research  Institute 


http://archive.org/details/originofantiquitiesOOdela 


AN    INQUIRY 


INTO     THE     ORIGIN     OF     THE 


ANTIQUITIES    OF    AMERICA. 


BY 


JOHN    DELAFIELD,    JR. 


WITH 


AN  APPENDIX, 


CONTAINING  NOTES,  AND  "  A  VIEW  OF  THE  CAUSES  OF  THE  SUPERIORITY  OF  THE  MEN 
OF  THE  NORTHERN  OVER  THOSE  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE." 

BY 

JAMES   LAKEY,  M.D. 


NEW. YORK: 

PUBLISHED  FOR  SUBSCRIBERS,  BY 

J.    C.    COLT. 

LONDON: 
LONGMAN,  REES,  ORME,  BROWN,  GREEN,  &  LONGMAN. 

PARIS: 
A.  &  W.  GALIGNANI  &  CO. 

1839. 


Entered    according   to   act    of    Congress,    in    .the    year    1839,   by 
John    Delafield    Jr. 
in   the    District   Clerk's    Office   of  the    District   Court   of   Ohio. 


oial 


t* 


TO 


THE  HON.  JACOB  BUKNET,  L.  L.  D 


THIS    VOLUME 


IS    RESPECTFULLY    INSCRIBED    BY 


THE     AUTHOR 


PREFACE. 

BY   THE   RIGHT.   REV     CHAS.    P.    McILVAINE,    D.  D. 

BISHOP     OF     THE     DIOCESE     OP      OHIO. 


What  a  wonderful  book  is  the  Bible !  But  what  connection  has  the  Bible  with 
American  Antiquities  ?  Because  of  all  Antiquities,  it  is  the  most  valuable  and 
marvellous  specimen  ;  because  with  all  antiquities  it  is  associated  in  the  most 
important  and  interesting  relations  ;  because  the  most  valuable  discoveries  in  antiquity 
must  appeal  to  the  Bible  for  interpretation;  and  the  registers  of  long  lost  events  and 
generations,  inscribed  upon  the  rocks  and  buried  in  the  fossil  remains  of  far  distant  ages, 
or  scattered  far  and  wide  in  the  ruins  of  once  mighty  empires,  are  so  many  witnesses, 
constantly    multiplying,    to    the    history    contained    in    the    Bible. 

As  a  specimen  of  antiquity,  what  is  comparable  in  point  of  interest  with  this  Book? 
Suppose  that  in  searching  the  tumuli  that  are  scattered  so  widely  over  this  country, 
the  silent,  aged,  mysterious  remembrancers  of  some  populous  race,  once  carrying  on  all 
the  business  of  life  where  now  are  only  the  wild  forests  of  many  centuries,  a  race 
of  whom  we  ask  so  often,  who  they  were,  whence  they  came,  whither  they  went ; 
suppose  that  under  one  of  those  huge  structures  of  earth  which  remain  of  their  works, 
a  book  were  discovered,  an  alphabetic  history  of  that  race  for  a  thousand  years, 
containing  their  written  language,  and  examples  of  their  poetry  and  other*  literature,  and 
all  undeniably  composed  many  hundreds  of  years  before  any  of  the  nations  now  possessing 
this  continent  were  here !  What  a  wonder  would  this  be !  What  intense  interest  would 
attach  to  such  a  relic !  What  price  would  not  the  learned  be  willing  to  give  for  it  ! 
What  fragments  of  Egyptian  inscriptions  ;  what  unintelligible  characters  among  the  ruins 
of  Belus  ;  what  remains  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  telling  of  some  ancient  convulsion 
of  its  rocks,  could  be  compared  in  value  to  such  a  specimen  of  the  mind,  the  language, 
the  literature,  such  a  detailed  history  of  the  deeds  of  a  nation  otherwise  unheard  of? 
But  much  more  than  this  is  the  Bible.  It  contains  histories,  specimens  of  literature, 
examples  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  unquestionably  written,  some  eight  hundred  years  before 
the  writing  of  the  oldest  book  of  any  description  which  the  literature  of  the  world  has 
preserved.  Greece  was  a  land  of  barbarians  for  many  centuries  after  Moses  composed 
his  history  of  the  world  and  of  Israel.  There  is  no  evidence  that  alphabetic  writing 
was    known    when    he   wrote,    except    among    the    nation    over    which    he    ruled. 

But  then,  what  should  we  know  of  the  history  of  the  world,  and  its  nations,  for 
three  thousand  years,  if  all  that  has  been  derived  exclusively  from  the  Bible,  were 
obliterated    from    all    memories  and   all  books?      Where  should  we  go  for  knowledge  of   that 

B 


C  PREFACE. 

immense  extent  of  time — one  half  of  the  age  of  the  world?  To  the  most  ancient 
nations,  the  Babylonians,  the  Egyptians,  the  Phcnicians  ?  Alas,  it  is  all  wilderness 
there;  a  few  fragments  of  pretended  annals,  which,  like  the  gloomy  remains  upon  the 
plains  of  Shinar,  can  neither  he  referred  to  the  right  place  in  chronology,  nor  interpreted 
so  as  to  give  them  their  right  estimate  in  point  of  truth;  mere  continuation  of  the 
confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel.  Do  we  inquire  of  Egyptian  literature  for  an  ancient 
book  containing  authentic  details  of  far  ancient  times?  We  are  referred  only  to  Manetho. 
But  he  wrote  so  late  as  the  third  century  before  Christ.  All  his  professed  authority  was 
certain  sacred  inscriptions  on  pillars,  which  probably  never  existed.  And  nothing  is 
extant,  of  even  such  history,  but  a  few  inconsiderable  fragments.  We  enquire  next  of 
Babylonian  literature;  and  arc  told  only  of  Berosus,  a  Priest  of  Belus.  When  did  he  write? 
No  one  knows,  except  that  it  was  somewhere  in  the  period  of  the  Macedonian  dynasties. 
What  remains  of  his  writing?  A  few  fragments  preserved  by  Josephus,  Eusebius  and 
Tatian;  of  value  indeed,  because  confirming  the  history  in  the  Bible,  but  almost 
useless,  without  that  history.  We  inquire  next  of  Phcnician  history  and  arc  referred 
only  to  the  work  of  Sanchoniathon,  famous  for  having  been  used  by  Porphyry,  (the  shrewdest 
antagonist  Christianity  ever  had)  in  opposition  to  the  writings  of  Moses.  What  remains 
of  it  now?  One  book  only,  and  that  upon  the  Phenician  theology,  and  of  course 
full  of  fable;  and  as  a  history,  unaided  by  any  better,  useless.  But  does  Greece, 
ancient,  classic,  learned  Greece  furnish  nothing  more  valuable  concerning  the  first  three 
thousand  years  of  the  world?  Alas,  of  Greek  historians,  the  antiquity  of  the  oldest,  whose 
names  have  been  preserved,  does  not  much  exceed  the  times  of  Cyrus  and  Cambyses. 
Of  many  of  these,  we  have  only  their  names;  no  knowledge  even  of  their  subject. 
Of  the  remainder,  nothing  extant  is  older  than  the  Persian  war.  And  of  that 
nothing  is  to  be  depended  on,  connected  with  times  prior  to  the  Pcloponesian  war. 
Thucydides  asserts,  and  proves  this.  "  The  mailer  preceding  that  time,  (about  four  hundred 
and  four  years,  B.  C.)  cannot  now,  through  the  length  of  time,  be  accurately  discovered 
hi/  us.''  Plutarch,  in  writing  of  the  earlier  periods,  has  to  "implore  the  candor  of  his 
readers,  and  their  kind  allowance  for  the  talcs  of  antiquity."  "As  geographers  thrust 
into  the  extremities  of  their  maps,  those  countries  that  are  unknown  to  them,  remarking, 
at  the  same  time,  that  all  beyond  is  hills  of  sand,  and  haunts  of  wild  beasts,  frozen  seas, 
marshes,  and  mountains  that  are  inaccessible  to  human  courage,  or  industry;  so,  in  com- 
paring the  lives  of  illustrious  men,  when  I  have  passed  through  those  periods  of  time  which 
may  bo  described  with  probability,  and  where  history  may  find  firm  footing  in  facts,  I 
may  say  of  the  remoter  ages  that  all  beyond  is  full  of  prodigy  and  fiction,  the  regions 
of  poets,    and    fabulists,    wrapt    in   clouds,    and    unworthy   of  belief." 

So  said  that  learned  Boeotian,  who  knew  not  the  Scriptures.  So  appeared  to  him  the 
history  of  more  than  three  thousand  years  of  the  world.  Such  also  would  it  be  to  us, 
were  we  destitute  of  the  Bible.  Just  as  we  now  wander  '  among  the  mysterious  remains  of 
the  race  which  once  possessed  all  this  land,  and  pausing  beneath  some  lofty  mound,  crested 
with  sturdy  oaks,  which  have  stood  for  centuries  and  are  now  nourished  with  the  decayed 
materials  of  a  former  generation;  or,  measuring  the  exact  angles  and  regular  outlines 
of  some  vast  system  of  warlike  defence,  for  which  the  traditions  of  no  race  now  known 
among  us    have  the    least   explanation,  arc  deeply    impressed    with  the  evidence  that   we    are 


PREFACE.  7 

constantly  walking  over  the  graves  of  an  immense  population,  and  pained  with  a 
sense  of  utter  darkness,  as  to  every  thing  connected  with  them,  except  that  they 
bequeathed  to  posterity  those  existing  and  confounding  traces  of  their  existence;  so  precisely 
should  we  be  situated,  with  regard  to  all  the  human  race,  and  all  the  mightiest  changes  in 
the  surface  of  the  globe,  were  we,  as  Plutarch  was,  destitute  of  all  that  history  for  which 
we  are  exclusively  indebted  to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  We  should  have  the 
tumuli  which,  from  the  days  of  Homer  to  the  present,  have  been  seen  on  the  plains 
of  Troy;  the  frightful  heaps  of  desolation  on  the  foundations  of  Babel;  the  ruined  tombs, 
temples  and  pyramids  of  ancient  Egypt,  sculptured  with  characters,  which  curiosity  has 
decyphered,  only  to  be  disappointed;  the  gigantic  remains  of  distant  antiquity  in  India,  as 
silent  and  gloomy  as  the  quarried  temple  of  Elephanta;  to  such  as  these  the  geologists  might 
add  their  theories  of  mighty  convulsions  in  nature,  and  immense  periods  of  time;  and  in 
the  midst  of  all,  the  several  traditions  of  the  nations  might  be  heard  speaking  with 
a  confusion  of  tongues  which  would  do  credit  to  an  ancient  emigration  from  Babel,  each 
needing  an  interpreter  nearly  as  much  as  the  secrets  it  pretends  to  unveil;  so  that  were 
we  to  attempt  from  such  sources,  an  account  of  the  progress  of  the  human  family 
during  the  vast  period  we  have  mentioned,  what  better  could  we  do,  than  imitate  the 
geographer,  and  write  terra  incognita  over  the  whole.  The  curious  hieroglyphic  map 
connected  with  this  work,  intended  doubtless  for  a  history  of  a  numerous  people,  great 
movements,  long  periods,  divers  changes,  wars,  afflictions,  successes;  intended,  moreover,  to 
teach  something  of  the  geography,  natural  history,  and  vegetable  productions,  of  the  countries 
in  which  they  occured,  but  so  curiously  blind,  may  be  taken  as  no  inappropriate  illustration  of  the 
plainest  traces  we  could  discover  under  such  circumstances,  of  all  that  .transpired  from 
the  creation  of  man,  through  more  than  thirty  centuries  of  his  posterity.  Yes,  the  whole 
reason  of  the  wide  difference,  between  our  present  chart  of  the  history  of  man,  during 
all  that  period,  and  the  chart  contained  in  this  volume,  is  founded  in  the  knowledge 
for   which    we    are    indebted    alone    to    the    Bible. 

But  exceedingly  insignificant  as  are  all  resources  for  the  earliest  history  of  the  world 
independantly  of  the  Bible,  they  may  be  of  great  consequence  in  connection  with  the 
Bible.  They  may  add  no  facts  to  what  it  contains;  but  they  may  contradict  or  confirm 
what  it  contains.  A  single  line  of  inscription  upon  a  Theban  tomb;  a  bone  dug  up  from 
the  depths  of  the  earth;  a  stratum  of  rock,  or  rubbish,  discovered  in  the  interior  of  a 
mountain,  may  add  very  little  to  our  knowledge  of  facts,  illustrating  the  history  of  the 
globe;  but  it  will  become  of  great  importance,  if  it  conflict,  or  harmonize,  with  any  statements 
which  Moses,  professing  to  write  under  divine  inspiration  has  recorded.  One  discovery 
of  the  Antiquarian,  or  the  geologist,  perfectly  authenticated,  accurately  interpreted,  certainly 
speaking  the  truth,  and  certainly  contradictory  to  the  Mosaic  record;  what  an  evidence  against 
his  inspiration!  Then  how  singularly  has  the  Bible  exposed  itself  to  attack;  what  an  immense 
frontier  has  it  had  to  defend;  what  a  chain  of  posts  in  the  wilderness  to  protect.  Relating 
minutely  the  most  important  events,  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  for  several  thousand 
years;  events,  such  as  tradition,  and  inscriptions,  and  monuments,  and  strata  of  the  earth, 
if  they  speak  of  any  thing,  can  hardly  avoid  recording,  in  some  shape  or  other;  thus, 
coming  into  contact  with  all  the  researches  of  literature  and  science  at  innumerable  points, 
and    inviting   investigation;    challenging  attack  along  the   whole  line  of  its   details;  what   book 


fci  PREFACE. 

in    such    circumstances,   and   from  so    distant  an    age,   could    stand    such    a    trial,    were  it    not 
inspired?     It    would    be    wonderful,    could      we   only      say     that     every     search      into    tradition; 
every   interpretation  of  inscriptions;  every   trace   of  nations;  every    remnant  of  ancient  history; 
every    developemenl    of  the  geology    of  the  earth,    has    failed  to   contradict  the    history    in    the 
Bible.     We   go    ranch  farther.    It    has  continually   been    adding   new    confirmations    to    that 
history.     Assaults  have  often   been  made;  fears   excited;  pCBans  sung;  hut    when  the  smoke  of  the 
artillery   had    blown    oil",    troth     has    always    appeared,    as    ever,     resting    h<  r    right    hand    upon 
the   Bible;    so    that    HOW    alter    a   trial     of     more     than     three     thousand     years     since     the     first 
hook    of   Scripture     was    written,     the     people    of    God    may    exclaim    in    triumph:       '"Walk 
ahout    Zion — tell    the    towers    thereof;  mark    ye  well    her    bulwarks  j  —  God    will    eslahlish    it 
forever. " 

Hume  asserted  that  the  Books  of  Moses  are  "corroborated  hi/  no  concurring 
testimony."  Dr.  Campbell  answered:  "As  little  is  it  invalidated  by  any  confrat/icfing 
testimony:  and  both  for  this  plain  reason,  hecause  there  is  no  human  composition  that 
can  he  compared  with  this,  in  respect  of  antiquity."  But  arc  the  hooks  of  Moses 
without  collateral  evidence?  Thales  measured  the  height  of  the  pyramids,  by  the  length 
of  their  shadows.  What  if  we  measure  the  truth  of  the  facts,  narrated  by  Moses,  by 
the  number  and  variety  of  the  traditions,  among  all  nations,  concerning  them?  Traditions 
have  been  distinctly  traced,  in  opposite  regions  of  the  glohe,  and  in  the  most 
unconnected  nations  of  the  creation,  of  the  production  of  all  living  creatures  out 
of  water  by  the  power  of  one  Supreme  mind;  the  formation  of  man,  last,  in  the 
image  of  God,  and  his  being  invested  with  dominion  over  all  other  animals;  the 
primitive  state  of  innocence  and  happiness;  Paradise;  the  Sabbath;  the  division  of 
time  into  weeks;  the  fall  of  man;  (the  mother  of  mankind  is  represented  in  American 
tradition  as  fallen  and  accompanied  by  a  serpent);  the  promise  of  a  deliverer;  Cain 
and  Abel:  the  general  degeneracy  of  mankind;  the  longevity  of  the  Patriarchs;  the 
general  deluge;  the  escape  of  only  a  single  family  in  an  ark;  the  dove  sent  out  by  Noah; 
the  rainbow  as  a  sign:  the  number  of  persons  in  the  ark;  the  Tower  of  Babel;  the  destruction 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah — these  with  divers  circumstances  and  details  illustrating  the  main 
particulars.  So  remarkable  were  the  traditions  of  several  of  these  facts,  among  the  inhabitants 
of  America,  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  that  the  priests  who  accompanied  the 
army,  were  induced  to  suppose  that  Christianity,  or  at  least  Judaism,  had  been  inculcated 
among  them  at  some  very  distant  period.  Humboldt,  however,  sees  no  need  of  such 
explanation  "since  similar  traditions,  (ho  says)  of  high  and  venerable  antiquity,  are 
found  among  the  followers  of  Brama,  and  among  the  Shamans  of  the  eastern  steppes  of 
Tartary." 

The  traditions  of  the  deluge  arc  particularly  numerous.  Thty  are  derived  from  the  oldest 
nations  of  antiquity  —  the  Chaldeans.  Egyptians,  Greeks  (and  mentioned  by  Berosus,  Hcsiod, 
Plato,  Plutarch,  Lucian,  &c.)  as  well  as  from  people  the  most  recently  discovered  ;  as  the 
natives  of  North  and  South  America  and  of  the  islands  of  the  South  sea.  The  Antipodes  of 
the  earth  unite  in  testimony  to  the  deluge.  Chinese  and  Sanscrit  literature  concurs  with  Chilian 
and  Peruvian  and  Mexican  tradition  in  hearing  witness  to  that  catastrophe.  Among  the  natives 
of  America  it  is  commemorated  by  a  fable  similar  to  that  of  Pyrrha  and  Deucalion.  "These 
ancient  traditions  of  the  human  race  (says  Humboldt)  which  we  find  dispersed  over  the  surface 


PREFACE.  9 

of  the  globe,  like  the  fragments  of  a  vast  shipwreck,  are  of  the  greatest  interest  in  the 
philosophical  study  of  our  species.  Like  certain  families  of  plants,  which  notwithstanding  the 
diversity  of  climates  and  the  influence  of  heights,  retain  the  impress  of  a  common  type,  the 
traditions  respecting  the  primitive  state  of  the  globe  present  among  all  nations  a  resemblance 
that  fills  us  with  astonishment;  so  many  different  languages  belonging  to  branches  which  appear 
to  have  no  connection  with  each  other,  transmit  the  same  facts  to  us.  The  substance  of  the 
traditions  respecting  the  destroyed  races,  and  the  renovation  of  nature,  is  every  where  almost 
the  same;  although  each  nation  gives  it  a  local  coloring.  In  the  great  continents,  as  well  as 
in  the  smallest  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  it  is  always  on  the  highest  and  nearest  mountain, 
that  the  remains  of  the  human  race  were  saved ;  and  this  event  appears  so  much  the  more 
recent,  the  more  uncultivated  the  nations  are,  and  the  shorter  the  period  since  they  began  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  themselves.  When  we  attentively  examine  the  Mexican  monuments, 
anterior  to  the  discovery  of  America;  penetrate  into  the  forests  of  the  Orinoco,  and  become 
aware  of  the  smallness  of  the  European  establishments,  their  solitude  and  the  state  of  the  tribes 
which  retain  their  independence;  we  cannot  allow  ourselves  to  attribute  the  agreement  of  those 
accounts  to  the  influence  of  missionaries  and  to  that  of  Christianity  upon  national    traditions." 

Singular,  also,  is  the  concurrence  of  tradition  as  to  the  era  of  the  deluge.  Cuvier  remarks 
that  the  famous  astronomical  tables  of  the  Hindoos,  from  which  such  distant  antiquity  has 
been  inferred,  were  calculated  backwards.  Speaking  of  the  agreement  as  to  the  period  of  the 
renewal  of  mankind,  he  says:  "It  is  not  to  be  conceived  that  mere  chance  should  have  given  rise 
to  so  striking  a  coincidence  between  the  traditions  of  the  Assyrians,  the  Hindoos  and  the  Chinese, 
in  attributing  the  origins  of  their  respective  monarchies  so  nearly  to  the  same  epoch,  of  about 
four  thousand  years  before  the  present  day.  The  ideas  of  these  three  nations,  which  are  so  entirely 
dissimilar  in  language,  religion  and  laws,  could  not  have  so  exactly  agreed  on  this  point,  unless 
it  had  been  founded  on  truth."  Again,  the  same  writer:  "All  nations  which  possess  any 
records  of  any  ancient  traditions,  declare  that  they  have  been  recently  renewed  after  a  grand 
revolution  in  nature.  This  concurrence  of  historical  and  traditionary  testimonies  respecting  a 
comparatively  recent  renewal  of  the  human  race,  and  their  agreement  with  the  proofs  that  are 
furnished  by  the  operations  of  nature,  might  certainly  warrant  us  in  refraining  from  the 
examination  of  certain  equivocal  monuments  which  have  been  brought  forward  by  some  authors 
in  support  of  a  contrary  opinion.  But  even  this  examination,  to  judge  of  it  by  some  attempts 
already  made,  will  probably  do  nothing  else  than  add  some  more  proofs  to  that  which  is 
furnished  by  tradition." 

Baron  Cuvier  discovers  testimony  confirming  the  Mosaic  era  of  the  deluge,  in  the  researches 
of  geology.  The  following  is  taken  from  a  report  of  a  course  of  lectures  of  that  distinguished 
naturalist  in  the  Edinburgh  New  Philo.  Journal  for  January,  1830.  "While  the  traditions  of 
all  nations  have  preserved  the  remembrance  of  a  great  catastrophe,  the  deluge,  which  changed 
the  earth's  surface,  and  destroyed  nearly  the  whole  of  the  human  species,  geology  apprizes  us, 
that  of  the  various  revolutions  which  have  agitated  our  globe,  the  last  evidently  corresponds  to 
the  period  which  is  assigned  to  the  deluge. 

"We  say,  that  by  means  of  geological  considerations  alone,  it  is  possible  to  determine  the 
date  of  this  great  event  with  some  degree  of  precision. 

"  There    are  certain    formations  which   must    have  commenced    immediately  after  the    last 

catastrophe,  and  which  from  that  period  have  been  continued  up  to  the  present  day  with  great 

regularity.      Such  are  the  deposits  of  detritus,  observed  at  the  mouths  of  rivers,   the  masses  of 

rubbish  which  exist  at  the  foot  of  mountains,  and   are   formed  of  the   fragments  that  fall  from 

C 


10  PREFACE. 

the  summits  and  sides.  These  deposits  receive  a  yearly  increase,  which  it  is  possible  to 
measure.  Nothing,  therefore,  is  more  easy  than  to  calculate  the  time  which  it  has  taken  them 
to  acquire  their  present  dimensions.  This  calculation  has  been  made  with  reference  to  the 
debris  of  mountains;  and  in  all  cases  has  indicated  a  period  of  about  four  thousand  years. 
The  same  result  has  been  obtained  from  the  other  alluvial  deposits.  In  short,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  natural  phenomenon  that  has  been  interrogated,  it  has  always  been 
found  to  give  evidence  in  accordance  with  that  of  tradition.  The  traditions  themselves  exhibit 
the  most  astonishing  conformity.  The  Hebrew  text  of  Genesis  places  the  deluge  in  the 
year  2319  before  Christ.  The  Indians  make  the  fourth  age  of  the  world,  that  in  which 
we  now  live,  commence  in  the  year  3012.  The  Chinese  place  it  about  the  year  2381. 
Confucius  in  fact,  represents  the  first  King  Yeo,  as  occupied  in  drawing  off  the  waters 
of  the  ocean,  which  had  risen  to  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  in  repairing  the  damage 
which  they  had  caused." 

The  age  of  the  world  is  another  topic  on  which  ingenious  and  diligent  efforts  have  been 
made  with  a  view  of  discrediting  the  Mosaic  writings.  In  vain,  however,  have  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  and  all  the  discoveries  of  modern  science  been  ransacked,  for  the  purpose  of  fastening 
a  single  mistake  upon  the  Jewish  Legislator.  "  If  more  time  be  required  to  account  for 
appearances  in  the  interior  of  the  globe  than  the  six  thousand  years,  since  the  formation  of 
man,  more  time  may  be  taken,  yea  as  much  as  can  possibly  be  required  by  the  most 
covetous  advocate  of  demiurgic  ages,  without  the  least  contradiction  to  the  Mosaic  narrative 
of  the  creation."  We  would  adopt  the  statement,  which  has  been  increasingly  adopted  and 
supported  by  our  divines,  that  the  two  first  verses  of  the  book  of  Genesis  have  no 
immediate  connection  with  those  that  follow.  They  describe  the  first  creation  of  matter; 
but  so  far  as  any  thing  to  the  contrary  is  stated,  a  million  of  ages  may  have  elapsed  between 
this  first  creation,  and  God's  saying  "Let  there  be  light,"  and  proceeding  to  mould  matter 
into  a  dwelling  place  for  man.  You  cannot  show  that  the  third  verse  is  necessarily 
consecutive  on  the  two  first,  so  that  what  is  recorded  in  the  one  may  not  be  separated,  by  a 
long  interval,  from  what  is  recorded  in  the  others.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  clear  that  the 
interval  may  be  wholly  indefinite,  quite  as  long  as  geology  can  possibly  ask  for  all  those  mighty 
transformations,  those  ponderous  successions,  of  which  it  affirms  that  it  can  produce  indubitable 
evidence.  Creation  was  the  act  of  bringing  out  of  nothing  the  matter  of  which  all  things  were 
constructed ;  and  this  was  done  before  .the  six  days:  afterwards,  and  during  the  six  days,  God 
made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  ;  He  moulded,  that  is,  formed  into  different  bodies  the 
matter  which  he  had  long  ago  created.  We  seem,  therefore,  warranted  in  saying  that 
with  the  third  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  commences  the  account  of  the  production 
of  the  present  order  and  system  of  things;  and  that  to  this  Moses  confines  himself,  describing 
the  earth  as  made  ready  for  man,  without  stopping  to  speak  of  its  previous  conditions.  But 
since  he  does  not  associate  the  first  creation  of  matter  with  this  preparation  of  the  globe 
for  its  rational  inhabitants,  he  in  no  degree  opposes  the  supposition  that  the  globe  existed 
immeasurably  before  man,  and    underwent  a   long  series   of  revolutions. 

M  For  our  own  part,  we  have  no  fear  that  any  discoveries  of  science  will  really 
militate  against  the  disclosures  of  the  Scriptures.  We  remember  how  in  darker  days, 
ecclesiastics  set  themselves  against  philosophers,  who  were  investigating  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  apprehensive  that  the  new  theories  were  at  variance  with  the  Bible,  and 
therefore    resolved    to     denounce    them   as   heresies,    and    stop   their    spread     by     persecution. 


PREFACE.  11 

But  truth  triumphed;  bigotry  and  ignorance  could  not  long  prevail  to  the  hiding  from  the 
world  the  harmonious  walkings  of  stars  and  planets;  and  ever  since,  the  phdosophy  which 
laid  open  the  wonders  of  the  universe,  hath  proved  herself  the  handmaid  of  the  revelation 
which  divulged  secrets  far  beyond  her  gaze.  And  thus  we  are  persuaded  shall  it  always 
be;  science  may  scale  new  heights,  and  explore  new  depths;  but  she  shall  bring  back  nothing 
from  her  daring  and  successful  excursions,  which  will  not,  when  rightly  understood,  yield  a 
fresh  tribute  of  testimony  to  the  Bible.  Infidelity  may  watch  her  progress  with  eagerness, 
exulting  in  the  thought  that  she  is  furnishing  facts  with  which  the  christian  system  may  be 
strongly  assailed;  but  the  champions  of  revelation  may  confidently  attend  her  in  every  march, 
assured  that  she  will  find  nothing  which  contradicts,  if  it  do  not  actually  confirm,  the  word 
which  they  know   to   be   divine. "  * 

In  these  sentiments,  we  entirely  concur.  Times  will  doubtless  come,  again  and  again, 
when,  in  consequence  of  imperfect  investigations,  hasty  theories  and  rash  conclusions,  the  calm 
surface  of  a  settled  belief  in  the  unvaried  accuracy  of  the  inspired  record,  as  to  matters  of 
fact,  connected  with  science  or  the  original  circumstances  of  mankind,  may  in  some  minds, 
be  troubled,  and  the  progress  of  religion,  founded  upon  such  belief,  be  threatened  with  storm 
and  wreck;  but  the  Lord  is  in  the  ship,  and  in  his  time  will  rebuke  the  winds  and  waves, 
and  the  little  faith  of  his  people,  and  the  light  of  truth  shall  shine  out,  as  when  "  the  Lord 
looked  unto  the  host  of  the  Egyptians,  through  the  pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and 
troubled  their  host,  and  took  off  their  chariot  wheels."  The  Bible  asks  nothing  but  matured, 
accurate  investigations  of  all  departments  of  knowledge  connected  with  its  statements,  whether 
in   the  traditions  of  nations,    the   phenomena  of  the    elements,  or   the   registers    of  geology. 

The  Antiquities  of  America  are  an  immense  field  for  inquiry,  hardly  entered;  abounding 
in  promise  of  reward  for  the  most  devoted  investigations.  Let  it  be  thoroughly  explored 
for  the  truth's  sake.  The  Scriptures  have  yet  to  gather  a  richer  cabinet  of  illustrative  and 
corroborating  collections  from  the  long  buried  and  unknown  depositories  of  American 
Antiquity. 

In  reference  to  the  question,  whether  all  the  races  of  men  have  descended  from  one 
common  stock,  the  Antiquities  of  this  continent  are  specially  interesting,  and  may  prove  of 
very  great  value.  It  is  a  question,  indeed,  forever  settled  by  the  researches  of  Bryant, 
Faber  and  Sir  William  Jones :  "  The  dark  Negro,  the  white  European,  and  the  swarthy 
Asiatic,  being  plainly  traced  to  their  respective  ancestors  in  the  family  of  Noah."  But  much 
confirmatory  testimony  may  yet  be  obtained.  The  contingent  of  America  to  the  host  of 
evidence  already  in  array  is  yet  to  take  its  entire  place  in  the  line.  If  the  present  volume 
shall  only  increase  the  ardor  of  investigation  and  the  number  of  minds  turning  their  energies 
upon  the  disinterment  of  the  buried  antiquarian  treasures  of  this  continent,  it  will  do  a  good 
work  and  deserve  the  thanks  of  all   lovers  of  truth. 

*Melvill's    Sermons. 

C.  P.  M. 

Kenyon  College,  Ohio. 
February   1839. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  following  pages  arc  the  result  of  a  general  course  of  reading,  induced  by 
several  year's  residence  amongst  the  interesting  tumuli  and  mural  antiquities  of  this 
country.  Whenever  evidence  is  cited  from  any  author,  as  will  be  noticed,  the  writer 
has  preferred  to  quote  the  very  words,  giving  the  requisite  credit.  It  is  trusted,  the 
mass  of  testimony  will    be   deemed   conclusive   by  the   reader. 


AN    INQUIRY    INTO   THE   ORIGIN 


OF  THE 


ANTIQUITIES    OF   AMERICA. 


We  see,  in  every  direction  around  us,  the  remains  of  an  unknown  race  of  men. 
Throughout  our  country  are  tumuli,  regularly  constructed  castra,  embankments,  and  fossa. 
In  many  of  these  tumuli,  curious  articles  and  relics  have  been  discovered,  which  have  been 
buried  with  their  possessors.  Our  object  will  be,  in  the  first  place,  to  trace,  if  possible, 
the  descendants  of  the  people  which  may  have  built  these  remains;  for  we  have  no  reason 
to  believe  the  race  has  become  extinct.  No  evidence  has  at  any  time  been  adduced  to  prove 
it,  nor  is  it  probable. 

The  extreme  western  limit  of  these  vestiges  of  antiquity  is  not  known.  It  is  believed, 
and  conceded,  that  they  are  found  as  far  north  as  the  buffalo  has  been  known  to  range. 
Thence  they  extend  through  Western  North  America,  and  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  to  Peru. 
Every  where  they  differ  in  construction,  apparently  to  suit  the  nature  of  the  ground.  In 
North  America  they  are  principally  built  of  earth.  On  approaching  the  elevated  plains  of 
the  Cordilleras,  we  find  the  same  remains,  but  serving  merely  as  bases  on  which  are 
erected  massive  stone  edifices,  now  in  ruins. 

Given  probably  to  agriculture,  our  fertile  prairies  attracted  the  undivided  attention  of  this 

people,   save  that  which  was  necessary  for  protection  from  the  mammoth,  or  from  the   hostile 

D 


14  AN   INQUIRY   INTO   THE   ORIGIN 

attacks  of  another  race,  and  which  resulted  in  tho  construction  of  the  earthen  ramparts  now 
remaining.  But  on  proceeding  southwardly,  where  they  were  probably  no  more  molested  by 
hostile  invasion,  their  wonted  industry  found  a  new  object  for  its  exertion,  in  the  erection  of 
extensive  cities  of  stone.  This  change  of  custom  may  also  be  easily  accounted  for  in  the 
beautiful  language  of  a  learned  author,  who  says,  "  that  the  faculties  unfold  themselves  with 
more  facility  wherever  man,  chained  to  a  barren  soil,  compelled  to  struggle  with  the  parsimony 
of  nature,  rises  victorious  from   the  lengthened  contest." 

Deserting  the  fertile  prairies  of  this  land,  and  encountering  the  more  sterile  plains  of  the 
volcanic  mountains  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  their  energy  directed  its  impulse  to  more  lasting 
monuments  of  their  existence  as  a  people. 

Tho  earliest  notice  we  have  of  the  primitive  occupants  of  our  soil  is  as  follows: 
"  The  Lenni  Lcnape,  according  to  the  traditions  handed  down  to  them  by  their  ancestors, 
resided  many  hundred  years  ago  in  a  very  distant  country  in  the  western  part  of  the  American 
continent.  They  determined  on  migrating  to  the  eastward,  and  accordingly  set  out  in  a  body. 
After  a  long  journey,  and  many  nights'  encampment,  (that  is,  halts  of  one  year  at  a  place,) 
they  arrived  on  the  Namcesi  Sipu*  (Mississippi,)  where  they  fell  in  with  the  Mengwe,  (the 
Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,)  who  had  also  emigrated  from  a  distant  country,  and  had  struck 
upon  this  river  somewhat  higher  up.  Their  object  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the 
Delawarcs;  they  were  proceeding  eastward,  until  they  should  find  a  country  that  pleased 
them.  The  territory  east  of  the  3Iississippi  was  inhabited  by  a  very  powerful  nation,  who 
had  many  large  towns  built  on  the  great  rivers  flowing  through  their  land.  These  were  the 
Alligewi,  from  whose  name  those  of  the  Alleghany  river  f  and  mountains  have  been  derived. 
This  famous  people  are  said  to  have  been  remarkably  tall  and  stout;  and  there  is  one  tradition 
that  giants  were  among  them  —  people  of  a  much  larger  size  than  the  Lenape.  They  built 
regular  fortifications  and  entrenchments,  whence  they  would  sally,  but  they  were  generally 
repulsed.  Mr.  Heckewelder  has  seen  many  of  these  fortifications,  two  of  which  are  remarkable, 
viz:  one  near  the  mouth  of  the  Huron  flowing  into  Lake  St.  Clair;  the  other  on  the  Huron 
east  of  Sandusky,  six  or  eight  miles  from  Lake  Erie. 

*  River  of  fish;  namoes,  a  fish;  sipu,  a  river. 

t  Viz:  the  Ohio,  as  the  Iroquois  named  it;  or  La  Belle  Riviere  (the  Beautiful  River)  by  the  French;  a  branch  of  it 
retain'  its  ancient  name. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  15 

"The  Lenape,  on  their  arrival,  requested  permission  to  settle  in  their  country.  The 
Alligewi  refused,  but  gave  them  leave  to  pass  through  and  seek  a  settlement  farther  eastward. 
They  had  no  sooner  commenced  crossing  the  Namoesi  Sipu,  than  the  Alligewi,  perceiving 
their  vast  numbers,  furiously  attacked  them,  and  threatened  them  all  with  destruction,  if  they 
dared  to  persist  in  coming  over.  Fired  at  this  treachery,  the  Lenape  now  consulted  about 
giving  them  a  trial  of  their  strength  and  courage.  The  Mengwe,  who  had  remained  spectators 
at  a  distance,  now  offered  to  join  them,  on  condition  that,  after  conquering  the  country, 
they  should  be  entitled  to  share  it  with  them.  Their  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the  resolution 
was  taken  by  the  two  nations  to  conquer  or  die.  The  Lenape  and  Mengwe  now  declared 
war  against  the  Alligewi,  and  great  battles  were  fought,  in  which  many  warriors  fell  on  both 
sides.  The  enemy  fortified  their  large  towns,  and  erected  fortifications,  especially  on  large 
rivers  and  near  lakes,  where  they  were  successively  attacked,  and  sometimes  stormed  by 
the  allies.  An  engagement  took  place,  in  which  hundreds  fell,  who  were  afterwards  buried 
in  holes,  or  laid  together  in  heaps  and  covered  with  earth.  No  quarter  was  given;  so  that 
the  Alligewi,  finding  their  destruction  inevitable  if  they  persisted  in  their  obstinacy,  abandoned 
the  country  to  the  conquerors,  and  fled  down  the  Missisippi,  whence  they  never  returned. 
The  war  lasted  many  years,   and  was  very  destructive."  * 

;/'/-_ J  -*.-■  <.-- 

On  the  discovery  of  America,  it  is  well  known  that  the  range  of  the  Cordilleras,  and 
of  mountains  thence  running  south  to  the  lower  extremity  of  Peru,  under  the  name  of 
Andes,  were  the  abodes  of  a  high  state  of  civilization,  the  residences  of  nations  dwelling 
in  cities,  skilful  in  the  texture  of  cloths,  ingenious  in  the  mechanical  arts,  and  possessing 
no  small  acquaintance  with  astronomy  and  general  science:  while  the  rest  of  America  was 
savage  and  benighted,  without  a  ray  of  that  intelligence  which  illumined  the  region  just 
alluded  to.  The  enlightened  country  comprehended  several  nations  differing  in  language 
and  government,  yet  possessing  such  affinities  as  indicate  conclusively  a  common  origin. 
The  most  prominent  tribes  of  this  civilized  family  were  the  Aztecs,  Toltecans,  and  Tlascalans, 
inhabiting  Mexico;  the  Muyscas,  who   dwelt  where   is  now  Colombia;  and   the   Peruvians. 

*  History  of  New  York,  by  Yates  &  Moulton,  p.  32. 


16  AN    INQUIRY   INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

Among  these  civilized  people  have  been  found  national  annals  and  records,  which  go 
back  to  a  period  corresponding  with  our  sixth  century.  They  "  there  relate  the  name  of  the 
illustrious  Citix,  who  led,  from  the  unknown  regions  of  Aztalan  and  Teocolhuacan,  the 
northern  nations   into  the  plains  of  Anahuac."  *     [See  note  A,  in   the  Appendix.] 

No  annals  have  been  found  proving  a  direct  connexion  between  Mexico  and  Peru;  yet 
their  languages,  and  manners  and  customs,  as  well  as  their  anatomical  devclopcments  and 
equal  advance  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  indicate  a  common  origin.  Tradition  directly 
states,  however,  that  their  civilization  emanated  from  the  North.  The  first  progenitors  of 
the  Incas  did  not  think  proper  to  disclose  to  the  people  whence  they  really  came,  or  what 
was  their  true  origin  ;t  yet  so  much  was  stated  as  that  it  was  the  ordinary  traditionary 
legend  that  "  men  with  beards,  and  clearer  complexions  than  the  natives  of  Anahuac, 
Condinamarca,  and  Cuzco,  make  their  appearance  without  any  indication  of  the  place  of 
their  birth,  bearing  the  title  of  high  priests,  legislators,  friends  of  peace  and  of  the  arts. 
Quctzalcoatl,  Bochica,  and  Manco  Capac,  are  the  sacred  names  of  these  mysterious  beings. 
Quctzalcoatl,  clothed  in  a  black  sacerdotal  robe,  comes  from  Panuco,  from  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Bochica  presents  himself  on  the  high  plains  of  Bogota,  where  he  arrives 
from    the    savannahs    which   stretch   along    the   east  of  the   Cordilleras."  J 

From  this  we  might  infer  an  original  affinity  between  those  who  introduced  civilization 
into  Mexico  and  Peru;  but  the  strongest  evidence  on  this  point  is  that  lately  presented  to 
the  British  Association  for  the  advancement  of  Science,  section  E.  on  Anatomy  and  Medicine, 
by  Dr.  Warren,  of  Boston,  U.  S.  He  there  read  an  essay  "on  some  crania  found  in  the 
ancient  mounds  of  North  America,"  from  the  printed  report  of  which  arc  gathered  the 
following  facts,  and  which  are  fully  confirmed  by  the  examinations  made  by  the  writer  of 
these   pages. 

"The  crania  found  in  these  mounds  differ  from  those  of  the  existing  Indians,  from 
the  Caucasian  or  European,  and  in  fact  from  all  existing  nations,  so  far  as  they  are 
known.  The  forehead  is  broader  and  more  elevated  than  in  the  North  American  Indian, 
less  broad  and  elevated  than  in  the  European.  The  orbits  arc  small  and  regular.  The 
jaws  are   sensibly  prominent,  less  so   than  in  the   Indian,  but  more   so  than  in  the   European. 

*  Trans.  Views  of  Cordilleras, 
t  Gcnt.'s  Magazine,  Dec.  1751. 
t  Trans.  Views  of  Cordilleras. 


E    1 


htth  by    jSain\  p 


f,.>4*</      <■<;      \     (.      Ill   R8ESS    it      co.  >#at/J$ 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  17 

The  palatine  arch  is  of  a  rounded  form,  and  its  fossa  less  extensive  than  in  the  European, 
owing  principally  to  a  greater  breadth  of  the  palatine  plate  of  the  os  palati.  But  the  most 
remarkable  appearance  in  these  heads  is  an  irregular  flatness  in  the  occipital  region, 
evidently  produced  by  artificial  means."  The  Doctor  .  also  stated  he  had  received  other 
crania,  which,  at  first  view,  he  believed  to  be  of  the  same  race  and  nation,  for  they 
resemble  them,  in  every  peculiarity,  more  nearly  than  one  Caucasian  skull  does  another; 
and  he  exhibited  drawings  and  a  cast  in  support  of  his  assertion.  These  latter  crania,  he 
said,  were  the  skulls  of  ancient  Peruvians.  He  asserted  that,  to  himself,  this  fact  furnished 
an  irresistible  conclusion  that  the  Peruvians  and  the  "  race  of  the  mounds"  were  connected 
by  blood,  and  rendered  it  probable  that  the  northern  race,  being  driven  from  their  country 
by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Indian  tribes,  retreated,  after  a  long  resistance,  through 
Mexico  into  South  America,  and  gave  origin  to  one  of  the  nations  which  founded  the 
Peruvian  empire. 

In  the  investigation  made  by  the  writer  in  this  branch  of  his  inquiry,  he  finds  the 
"  irregular  flatness"  to  exist  in  many  cases,  as  the  Doctor  asserts,  "  on  the  occipital 
region" — but  quite  as  often  the  compression  is  on  the  frontal  bone.  And  to  illustrate  this, 
he  appends  hereto   a   drawing  of  four   crania. 

No.  1  is  the  cranium  of  an  ancient  Peruvian,  taken  from  the  great  Temple  of  the  Sun, 
from  plate  IX  of  Crania  Americana  by  Dr.  Morton  of  Philadelphia.  No.  2  and  No.  4 
are  crania  in  possession  of  the  author,  sent  to  him  from  the  province  of  Velez,  near 
Bogota,  by  General  James  Semple,  of  the  United  States  Legation  at  that  place. 
No.  3,  however,  is  the  faithful  representation  of  a  skull  of  one  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants 
of  America,  taken  from  a  tumulus  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  It  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
Dorfeuille,  of  this  city,  a  gentleman  whose  collection  of  aboriginal  antiquities  is  large  and 
valuable. 

A  striking  peculiarity  is  discoverable  at  once  in  these  crania,  viz:  that  they  have  each 
been  subject  to  artificial  pressure  in  early  life.  No.  3  and  No.  4  present  uncommon 
instances  of  it.  No.  1  and  No.  2  exhibit  the  usual  form  of  cranium,  both  of  the  aboriginal 
and  Peruvian  races.  This  custom  of  cranial  compression,  peculiar,  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
to   these  races,    affords  no  slight  warrant  for  our  belief  in  an  original   identity. 

E 


18  AN   INQUIRY   INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

That  these  ancient  remains  were  not  constructed  by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Indian 
trihes,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  no  tradition  lias  enabled  them  at  any  time  to 
say  when,  by  whom,  or  for  what  purpose  they  were  made;  and  from  the  evidence  they 
bear  of  skill,  mechanical  ingenuity,  and  untiring  perseverance  and  industry  —  qualities  differing 
widely  from  the  characteristic  traits  of  the  North  American  Indian.  At  the  same  time, 
anatomical  investigation  clearly  defines  them  to   be  a   distinct   race. 

As  this  essay  is  a  chain  of  facts  collected  from  many  authors,  and  each  forms  a  link 
in  the  concatenation,  the  loss  of  one  of  which  may  break  at  once  the  argument  to  be 
deduced,  it  were  well  to  state  the  position  we  now  occupy,  viz:  That  we  have  traced  the 
descendants  of  that  race  which  constructed  our  ancient  works,  by  the  following  train  of 
argument: 

I.  The  extension  of  tumuli,  &c.  through  Western  North  America  and  Mexico  to  Peru, 
induces  a  belief  that  the  race  which  constructed  them  emigrated  thither ;  and  their 
termination    there    leads    to    the    conclusion    that    the    nation    went    no   farther. 

II.  The  traditions  of  the  North  American  Indians  assert  distinctly  their  ejectment  of 
a  people  from  the  present  region  of  Western  North  America,  who  correspond  with  the 
native   Mexicans,   and   who   emigrated   hence. 

HI.  On  the  discovery  of  America,  a  tract  of  country  occupying  the  present  limits  of 
Mexico,  Colombia,  and  Peru,  was  in  a  high  state  of  civilization,  while  all  around  them  was 
enshrouded  in  mental   darkness. 

IV.  National  annals  have  been  found  among  the  Mexicans,  expressly  stating  that  at  a 
period  corresponding  to  our  sixth  century,  their  ancestors  emigrated  from  the  north,  under 
the  guidance  of  their  illustrious  Emperor,  Citin,   or  Votan. 

V.  Traditions  assert  that  the  introduction  of  civilization  into  Peru  was  by  the  emigration 
of  certain  wise   men  from  Mexico. 

VI.  Anatomical  research  exhibits  a  striking  coincidence  between  the  crania  of  the  race 
of  the  mounds,  and  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  differing  from  all  others  in  the  world,  and 
proving  conclusively  that  they  were  a  distinct  race  from  the  ancestors  of  our  present  Indian 
tribes. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  19 

In  the  absence  of  positive  evidence  that  the  Peruvians  were  at  some  early  period 
identical  with  the  Mexicans,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  circumstantial  testimony;  and 
we  possess  that  which  is   entitled  to  no  light  consideration.      [See   Note  B,   in  the  Appendix.] 

1.  We  learn  that  "the  Aztecs,  who  do  not  now  disfigure  the  heads  of  their  children, 
represent  their  principal  divinities,  as  their  hieroglyphical  manuscripts  prove,  with  a  head 
more  flattened  than  any  I  have  seen  among  the  Caribs."  *  Now  Vega,  the  Spanish 
historian,  when  narrating  the  conquests  of  the  Inca  Tupac  Yupanqui,  speaks  of  one  of  the 
Peruvian  provinces  called  "Palta,  (south  lat.  3°)  famous  for  the  exquisite  fruit  so  named; 
here  the  nations,  on  the  birth  of  an  infant,  tie  a  board  on  the  forehead  to  another 
behind  the  neck,  and  thus  they  remain  for  three  years,  to  flatten  the  head."  f  The  crania 
also  of  the  more  ancient  Peruvians  and  Mexicans  generally  possess  the  same  peculiarity. 
Li  this  coincidence  we  are  presented  with  no  unimportant  evidence,  viz:  that  the  ancient 
Mexican  custom  of  compressing  the  cranium  was  still  practised  by  some  of  the  Peruvian 
tribes   on    the    discovery  of   America  by   the   Spaniards. 

2.  In  the  farther  progress  of  this  essay,  it  will  be  necessary  to  mention  the  peculiar 
construction  of  the  Peruvian  bridges.  Suffice  it  here  to  say,  that  the  mode  of  building 
them  was    identical    in    Mexico   and    Peru.      [See  page     60.] 

3.  Such  was  the  similarity  of  the  appearance  between  the  natives  of  Mexico,  Colombia, 
and  Peru,  that  Ulloa,  who  spent  ten  years  in  those  provinces,  says,  "  if  we  have  seen  one 
American,  we  may  be  said  to  have  seen  all,  their  color  and  make  are  so  nearly  alike."  J 
May  we  not,  therefrom,  infer  unity  at   an  early  date? 

4.  We  have  authentic  information  that  the  country  between  Mexico  and  Peru  was 
settled  by  a  prominent  Mexican  tribe  on  its  emigration  towards  the  south.  "Copan  was  a 
colony  of  Toltecas.  Its  king  held  dominion  over  the  country  extending  to  the  eastward 
from  that  of  the  Mayas,-  or  Yucatan,  and  reaching  from  the  bay  of  Honduras  nearly  to 
the  Pacific,  containing,  on  an  average,  about  ten  thousand  square  miles,  now  included  in 
the  modern  states  of  Honduras,  Guatimala,  and  Salvador,  and  possessing  several  populous 
and  thriving  towns  and  villages.  The  aborigines  of  this  kingdom  still  use  the  Chorti 
language,  being  a  mixture  of  the  Toltec  dialect  with   some   other  still   more   ancient  in  these 

*  Note  to  p.  116,  transl.  Essai  Politique  sur  la  Nouvelle  Espagne. 
t  Ranking's  Conquest  of  Peru,  p.  86. 
t  Chronica  del  Peru,  parte  1,  c.  19. 


20  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

parts."  *      Mexican    emigration    then    furnished    the     inhabitants  of    the    intermediate    country 
between    Mexico    and    Peru. 

5.  4i  Les  Incas  construisircnt  la  forteresso  du  Couzco,  d'apn-s  des  modules  des  edifices 
plus  anciens  de  Tiahuanaco,  situes  sous  les  17°  12'  de  latitude  australe."  " — dans  le 
Haut  Canada,  coinino  lc  pretend  le  savant  autcur  des  Noticias  Americanos,  il  cxiste  des 
edifices  qui,  dans  la  coupe  des  picrrcs,  dans  la  forme  des  portes  et  des  petites  niches,  et 
dans  la  distribution  des  appartemens,  offrcnt   des  traces   du  style  Penmen."  f 

From  this  circumstantial  evidence,  then,  we  dunk  the  subject  is  cleared  of  collateral 
difficulties,  and  that  we  may  safely  proceed  on  the  argument,  that  the  region  of  civilization 
among  the  aborigines  of  tho  Cordilleras  and  Andes  comprehended  one  large  family,  whom 
the  effects  of  climate  and  peculiarity  of  country  have  divided  into  different  tribes  and 
nations,  speaking  diverse  dialects,  and  possessing  dissimilar  customs;  and  were  descended 
from  one  common  source,  which  emigrated  from  the  north,  and  on  its  way  constructed  the 
various  tumuli,  embankments,  fossa,  Sec.  found  in  Western  North  America.  At  least,  may 
we  not  believe  that  so  much  evidence  has  been  adduced  as  to  throw  the  onus  probandi 
on    him  who  doubts? 

*  Archaeologia  Americana,  vol.  2:  letter  from  J.  Gnlindo,  &c. 
t  Vucs  des  Cordilleres,  pp.  197,  198.     Paris  folio  edition. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  21 


We  propose  now  an  investigation  of  the  inquiry,  "  whence  is  this  family  descended, 
and  where  were  their  ancient   homes? " 

In  pursuing  systematically  the  chain  of  evidence,  it  is  proposed  to  divide  the  argument 
into   the   following  branches: 

1.  The    evidence    from    comparative    philology. 

2.  That   drawn  from   anatomy. 

3.  That    deduced    from   their    mythology. 

4.  That   arising   from   their  hieroglyphical   writings. 

5.  That  drawn   from   their   astronomy. 

6.  The    evidence   derived    from   their    architecture    and    decorations. 

7.  That   deduced   from   their  manners  and   customs. 

F 


22  AN   INQUIRY  INTO  THE   ORIGIN 


THE    PHILOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE. 

Ethnography,  or  "  the  classification  of  nations,  from  the  comparative  study  of  languages," 
is  a  science  horn  almost  within  our  memory,  opening  to  the  scholar  new  and  unexplored 
fields  of  vast  extent,  wherein  to  exercise  the  power  of  intellectual  research.  The  erudite 
and  clocpient  lecturer  on  the  connexion  between  science  and  revealed  religion,  Dr.  Wiseman, 
a  gentleman  whose  valuable  treatises  are  daily  earning  laurels  for  him  in  America,  alludes 
thus  to  its  rise  and  progress:  "Not  long  since  the  learned  world  believed  that  the  few 
languages  known  might  all  be  resolved  into  one,  and  that  one  probably  the  Hebrew. 
Aroused  by  new  discoveries  which  defied  this  easy  vindication  of  the  Mosaic  history, 
they  saw  the  necessity  of  a  new  science  which  should  dedicate  its  attention  to  the 
classification  of  languages."  *  *  "At  first  it  seemed  as  though  the  infant  science  was 
impatient  of  control,  and  its  earliest  progress  seemed  directly  at  variance  with  the  soundest 
truths.  Gradually,  however,  masses  which  seemed  floating  in  uncertainty  came  together, 
and,  like  the  garden  islands  of  the  Mexican  lake,  combined  into  compact  and  extensive 
territories,  capable  and  worthy  of  the  finest  cultivation.  The  languages,  in  other  words, 
grouped  themselves  into  various  large  and  well  connected  families,  and  thus  greatly 
reduced  the  number  of  primary  idioms  from  which  others  have  sprung.  Like  those  grouped 
but  disunited  masses,  which  geologists  consider  as  the  ruins  of  former  mountains,  we  see 
in  the  various  dialects  of  the  globe,  tho  wrecks  of  a  vast  monument  belonging  to  the 
ancient  world.  The  nice  exactness  of  their  tallies  in  many  parts,  the  veins  of  similar 
appearance,  which  may  be  traced  from  one  to  the  other,  show  that  they  have  been  once 
connected,  so  as  to  form  a  whole;  while  the  boldness  and  roughness  of  outline  at  the 
points  of  separation,  prove  that  it  is  no  gradual  devolution,  no  silent  action,  which  has 
divided,  but  some  violent   convulsion   which    has   riven   them    asunder."  * 

"The  number  of  languages  which  distinguish  the  different  native  tribes  appears  still 
more  considerable   in   the  New  Continent   than   in   Africa,  where,  according  to  the   researches 

*  Lectures  on  Connection  of  Science  and  Revealed  Religion,  by  Dr.  Wiseman:  Lee.  II,  pp.  75,  77. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  23 

of  Seetzen  and  Vater,  there  are  above  one  hundred  and  forty."  *  In  America,  there  are 
at  least  five  hundred  languages.  "The  Mexican  languages  alone  exceed  twenty,  of  which 
fourteen  dictionaries  and  grammars  are  tolerably  complete."  t  "The  configuration  of  the 
soil,  the  strength  of  vegetation,  the  apprehensions  of  the  mountaineers  under  the  tropics  of 
exposing  themselves  to  the  burning  heat  of  the  plains,  are  obstacles  to  communication,  and 
contribute  to  the  amazing  variety  of  American  dialects.  This  variety,  it  is  observed,  is 
more  restrained  in  the  savannahs  and  forests  of  the  north,  which  are  easily  traversed  by 
the  hunter,  on  the  banks  of  great  rivers,  along  the  coast  of  the  ocean,  and  wherever  the 
Incas  had  established  their  theocracy  by  force  of  arms."  J  It  is  proper  here  to  remark, 
that,  although  there  is  such  a  variety  of  dialects  in  America,  an  accurate  examination  of 
their  structure  has  left  no  room  to  doubt  that  they  all  form  one  individual  family,  closely 
knitted  together,  in  all  its  parts,  by  grammatical  analogy,  "not  of  a  vague,  indefinite  kind, 
but  complex  in  the  extreme,  affecting  the  most  necessary  and  elementary  parts  of  grammar."[| 
Baron  Humboldt,  after  an  examination  of  the  Mexican  languages,  says:  "They  bear 
analogy  in  their  whole  organization,  particularly  in  the  complication  of  grammatical  forms, 
in  the  modification  of  the  verb  according  to  its  syntax,  and  in  the  number  of  its  additive 
particles,    affixa   and   suffixa." 

It  is  not  the  proper  place  here  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  variety  of  languages 
discoverable  in  America,  nor  to  trace  the  progress  of  that  disuniting  power  which  still 
gradually  and  silently  operates  through  the  agency  of  separation,  accident,  oral  corruption, 
and  want  of  communication.  This  is  the  proper  task  of  the  mere  philologist.  It  is  for 
us  to  inquire  into  the  results  of  the  labors  of  learned  men  who  have  investigated  and 
analysed   the  languages  themselves. 

Professor  Benjamin  Smith  Barton  was  the  first  to  collect  and  classify  American  words. 
After  him  followed  Vater,  who,  in  his  Mithridates,  published  at  Leipsic  in  1810,  carried 
out   the    subject   in   an    extended    form.      The    result   of  their    labors    is    thus    stated:      "  In 

*  Essai  Politique  sur  la  Nouvelle  Espagne,  I,  16. 

t  Essai  Politique,  I,  103. 

t  Views  of  Cordilleras,  trans,  vol.  I,  p.  17. 

j|  Dr.  Wiseman's  Lectures,  II,  80. 


24  AX    INQUIRY    INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

eighty-three  American  languages,  one  hundred  and  seventy  words  have  been  found,  the 
roots  of  which  have  been  the  same  in  both  continents;  and  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that 
this  analogy  is  not  accidental,  since  it  does  not  rest  merely  on  imitative  harmony,  or  on 
that  conformity  of  organs  which  produces  almost  an  identity  in  the  first  sounds  articulated 
by  children.  Of  these,  three-fifths  resemble  the  Mantchou,  Tongousc,  Mongul,  and  Samoiede 
languages;    and    two-filths    the    Celtic,    Tchoud,    Biscayan,    Coptic,   and   Congo   languages."* 

The  inquiry  may  be  made.  ••  What  Dumber  of  words,  found  to  resemble  one  another 
in  different  languages,  will  warrant  our  concluding  them  to  be  of  common  origin?"  The 
learned  Dr.  Young  applied  to  this  subject  the  mathematical  test  of  the  calculus  of 
probabilities,  and  says  "it  would  appear  therefrom  that  nothing  whatever  could  be  inferred 
with  respect  to  the  relation  of  any  two  languages,  from  the  coincidence  of  sense  of  any 
single  word  in  both  of  them;  the  odds  would  be  three  to  one  against  the  agreement  of 
any  two  words;  but  if  three  words  appear  to  be  identical,  it  would  be  then  more  than  ten 
to  one  that  they  must  be  derived  in  both  cases  from  some  parent  language,  or  introduced 
in  some  other  manner;  six  words  would  give  more  than  seventeen  hundred  chances  to 
one;  and  eight,  near  one  hundred  thousand:  so  that  in  these  cases  the  evidence  would 
be    little   short  of  absolute    certainty."  f 

Ethnography,  then,  has  furnished  conclusive  evidence  that  the  family  of  American 
languages  has  had  a  common  origin  with  that  of  Asia.  A  lexical  comparison  has 
established  an  identity  in  one  hundred  and  seventy  words,  although  this  study  is  yet  in 
its  infancy:  and  this,  relying  on  the  correctness  of  Dr.  Young's  mathematical  calculation, 
is   an    argument  which    cannot   be    controverted. 


r- 


It  has  been  stated  that,  of  the  various  dialects  of  America,  three-fifths  resemble  the 
Mongolian  languages  of  northern-  Asia,  and  two-fifths  the  Coptic  and  other  languages  of 
Scythic  origin.  It  will  also  be  recollected,  that  in  our  division  of  America,  we  have  made 
a  partition  which  occupies  a  similar  extent  in  point  of  territory,  for  savage  America  occupies 
three-fifths  of  the  continent,    and   the    region  of  civilization  the  remaining    two-fifths. 

*  Trans.  Views  of  Cordilleras,  I,  19. 

t  Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  CIX  for  1818,  p.  70. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES. 


25 


Those  who  would  pursue  this  study  with  more  exactness  than  a  mere  essay  can  afford, 
are  respectfully  referred  to  the  lexical  resemblances  contained  in  the  Mithridates  of  Vater, 
Julius  Klaproth,  and  the  elder  and  younger  Adelung,  as  also  to  Balbi's  Atlas  Ethnographique. 

The  following  examples,  extracted  from  the  vocabulary  of  Vater  in  Mithridates,  th.  HI, 
p.  349,  which  extends   to   above   sixty  words,    may   serve    as   a  specimen   of   these   analogies: 

AMERICAN   LANGUAGES.  ASIATIC   LANGUAGES. 


r 

Nations. 

Words. 

i 

Words. 

Nations. 

Mother, 

(Tuscaroras, 
(Six  Nations, 

Greenland, 

1  Anah, 
Ananak, 

Anee, 

(Ana,  or              ] 
(Anakai,               i 

Tungusian. 
Tartar. 

Son, 

Penobscot, 

Naman, 

Nioma, 

Samoiede. 

Brother, 

Illinois, 

Nika, 

Neka, 

Samoiede. 

Child, 

Delaware, 

Nitsch, 

Neutschu, 

Samoiede. 

Man, 

(Tuscarora, 
(Acadia, 

Nekets, 
Kessona, 

Noekvet, 
Hassee, 

Kalmuc. 
Ostiak. 

Woman, 

Tuscarora, 

Kateocca, 

Kaddi, 

Tartar. 

Nose, 

New  England, 

Peechten, 

Patsh, 

Samoiede. 

Eye, 

(Mohican, 
(Brazil, 

Keeksq, 
Desa, 

Kus, 

Dees, 

Tartar. 
Jenisean. 

Ear, 

Chilese, 

Pilun, 

pa, 

Ostiak. 

Cheek, 

Huastec, 

Xal,  or  Chal, 

Chalga, 

Mongole. 

Tongue, 

(Quichua, 
( Carribee, 

Kalli, 
Inigne, 

Kyle, 
Ingm, 

Mongole. 
Tunguse. 

Beard, 

Tarahumara, 

Etshaguala, 

(Sagal, 
(Sachyl, 

Tartar. 
Kalmuc. 

Sun, 

(New  England, 
(Tarahumara, 

Cone, 
Taika, 

Cun, 
Tueikuel, 

Tartar. 
Koriak. 

Star, 

Kotou, 

Alagan, 

Alak, 

Assan. 

Year, 

Quichua, 

Huata, 

Hoet, 

Ostiak. 

River, 

Vilela, 

Itels, 

Idel, 

Tartar. 

Fire, 

Brazil, 

Tata, 

Tat, 

Ostiak. 

Having  met  with  a  few  instances  of  affinity  not  recorded  in  Vater's  work,  they  are 
here  mentioned,   to   serve   as  additional   illustrations    of    the   positions    assumed. 

A   learned    philologist,    in    a    disquisition    on   the     languages    of    Europe,   introduces  the 

following   remarks:     "There    is   a   very    striking     circumstance    in   a    close    affinity   between 

the    names   of   some   of   the   numbers  of    the   Delawares,    who,  in   adding   the    units   to  the 

tens,   say   nisha  naghky,   twenty;    naha   naghky,   thirty;    nehar   naghky,  forty;   and    so  on, 

G 


20  AN    INQUIRY   INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

using  the  last  to  signify  ten,  and  the  first  the  number  of  tens:  the  Poles,  for  eleven, 
say  ieden  nascie,  for  twelve,  dwa  tuude;  and  so  on,  until  they  come  to  twenty;  so  the 
Russians  say  for  these  same  numbers,  mil  nazet,  ttca  nazet,  Sec.  Again,  the  Delawares 
say  hot  I  puchkij  for  one  hundred;  and  the  Poles  say  puckzects,  for  five  hundred.  Nowi 
if  chance  has  produced  these  surprising  agreements  in  nations  so  remote,  they  are  very 
curious  at  least;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  there  is  too  close  an  affinity  between 
them,  (being  used  for  the  very  same  numbers  in  each  of  these  nations,)  to  be  ascribed 
to  any  accidental  cause,  and  that  their  origin  was  from  the  same  source,  however  remote 
their  situation."  *  Thus  writes  an  early  and  learned  philologist.  It  will  be  seen  hereafter 
that  his  conjecture  was  nearly  (if  not  quite)  correct.  [See  page  80,  showing  the 
introduction    of    language    into    these    regions.] 

In  another  place  he  remarks  "I  find  the  Indians,  all  over  America,  except  the 
Carribeans,  in  this  method,  who,  according  to  their  several  languages,  give  names  to  each 
unit,  from  one  to  ten,  and  proceed  to  add  a  unit  to  the  ten,  till  there  are  two  tens, 
to  which  sum  they  give  a  peculiar  name;  and  so  to  three  tens,  four  tens,  and  till  it 
come  to  ten  times  ten,  or  to  any  number  of  tens.  This  is  the  case  all  over  the  east 
also,  even  among  the  Malays,  of  whose  numbers  I  had  the  names  given  me  by  persons 
who    resided   among    them    for    many  years,    and   spoke    their    language."  f 

These  quotations  suffice  as  mere  examples  of  many  philological  affinities  existing 
between  the  languages,  both  lexical  and  numerical,  of  savage  America  and  the  nations 
of  the  3Iongolian  family.  One  or  two  instances  of  affinity,  to  illustrate  the  connexion 
between  civilized  America  and  the  Scythic  race.  "  Cami  is  the  name  of  the  gods  of 
Japan."  [Kcempfer,  p.  156.]  "  Ccmi,  that  of  the  Caciques  [Robertson,  I,  148]  of  Mexico. 
And  Cama.  the  soul,  is  the  root  of  the  words  Pacha  Camac  of  the  Peruvians."  \ 
"  Pacha-Camac"  means  "  Sovereign  Lord,"  and  was  applied  to  their  Creator.  According 
to  Vega,  "  Pacha"  means  "  Sovereign,"  just  as  it  docs  in  the  Moslem  tongue,  and 
"  Camac"  means    "  God,"  as  does    "  Cami,"  in   southern    Asia.     This   Peruvian    Deity  named 


*  Parson's  Remains  of  .T;i[>hrl.  p.  342. 
t  Parson's  Remains  of  Japhet,  p.  310. 
\  Ranking1?  Conquest  of  Peru,  p.  251. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  27 

"  Camac,"  we  perhaps  find  alluded  to  in  the  following  quotations  from  the  Rudhiradhyaha, 
or   sanguinary   chapter,    translated  from   the    Calica    Pjran.  * 

"  —  By  human  flesh,  Camac-hya,,  Chandica,  Bhairava,  who  assumes  my  shape,  are 
pleased   one  thousand  years." 

"  —  Let  those  I  now  tell  you  be  joined  to  them,  and  the  axe  invoked;  and  particularly 
so,  when  the  sacrifice  is  to  be  made  to   the  goddesses   Durga,   and   Cawiac-hya." 

"  —  The  victim,  who  is  sinful,  and  impure  with  ordure  and  urine,  Camac-hya  will 
not  even  hear  named." 

Again:  "The  sun,  in  the  language  of  the  Incas,  bears  the  name  of  Inti,  nearly  the 
same  as  in  the  Sanscrit "  —  "In  the  language  of  the  Incas,  the  sun  is  inti;  love,  munay ; 
great,  veypul;  in  Sanscrit,  the  sun,  indre;  love,  manya;  great,   vipulo."  t 

From  this  we  may  certainly  infer  something  more  than  mere  chance.  The  affinities 
are  too    striking  to  allow   us    to   suppose   them   accidental. 

In  reviewing,  then,  the  results  to  which  philology  inevitably  brings  us,  and  of  which 
but  a  few  instances  are  here  adduced,  we  are  obliged  to  refer  the  savage  and  larger  portion 
of  America  to  the  north  of  Asia,  and  the  civilized  family  of  Mexico  and  Peru  to  ancient 
Egypt  and  southern  Asia.  Let  us  then,  inquire  whether  the  results  arrived  at  by 
comparative  philology  are  substantiated  and  confirmed  by  other  branches  of  science:  and 
therefore  proceed  to  trace  back  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  America  to  their  ancient 
homes  in  Asia,  by  means  of  an  inquiry  into  their  anatomical  developements,  their 
mythological  traditions,  their  style  of  architecture,  their  hieroglyphic  system,  their  astronomical 
science,   their   skill    and    peculiarity  in   ornament,   and   their  manners   and   customs. 

*  Sir  Wm.  Jones'  Works,  (supplement,)  vol.  2,  p.  1057. 
t  Vater,  Mithridates :  T.  3,  p.  333. 


AN   INQUIRY   INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


THE  ANATOMICAL   EVIDENCE. 

The  norma  vcrticalis  of  Blumcnbach  has  established  three  leading  divisions  of  the 
human   family,   viz     the   Caucasian,    the   Ethiopian,   and    the   Mongolian    races. 

The  cranium  of  the  Caucasian  family  is  symmetrical,  and  the  zygomatic  arches  enter 
into  the  general  outline,  while  the  cheek  and  jaw  bones  are  concealed  by  the  prominence 
of  the  forehead.  The  Mongolian  or  Northern  Asiatic  skull  is  distinguished  by  the 
extraordinary  breadth  of  its  front,  in  which  the  zygomatic  arch  is  completely  detached 
from  the  general  circumference,  not  from  depression  in  this  as  in  the  negro,  but  from 
the  enormous  lateral  prominence  of  the  check  bones.  The  forehead  is  much  depressed, 
and    the    upper    jaw    protuberant. 

Now  what  saith  anatomy  touching  the  cranium  of  the  North  American  Indian? 
Pritchard,  in  his  observations  on  the  platy-bregmate  skulls,  remarks:  "It  seems  doubtful 
whether  there  arc  any  strongly  marked  and  universal  characters  which  distinguish  the 
skulls  of  the  American  nations  from  those  of  the  Northern  Asiatics.  Travellers,  who 
have  described  particular  nations  among  the  aborigines  of  America,  have  often  been  struck 
with  their  resemblance,  in  feature  and  in  the  shape  of  the  head,  to  the  Kalmuc  or 
Mongole  race.  To  this  race  many  other  nations  in  the  north  of  Asia  bear  a  strong 
resemblance.  From  the  numerous  assertions,  to  be  found  in  a  variety  of  authors,  of 
this  analogy,  it  would  appear  to  be  very  decidedly  marked;  and  we  do  not  find  that 
any  clearly  defined  difference  has  been  generally  proved  between  the  two  classes  of 
nations."  *  Thence  we  may  justly  infer  some  original  affinity  between  the  Indians  of 
North    America  and    the   nomadic    tribes  of  Northern    Asia. 

Again:  "The  portrait  painter,  Mr.  Smibert,  who  accompanied  Dr.  Berkeley,  then 
Dean    of    Derry,    afterwards    Bishop   of    Cloyne,    from    Italy    to    America,    in    1728,    was 

•Physical  History  of  Mankind:  vol  1,  p.   182. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  29 

employed  by  the  Grand  Difke  of  Florence  to  paint  two  or  three  Siberian  Tartars, 
presented  to  the  Duke  by  the  Czar  of  Russia.  Mr.  Smibert,  on  his  landing  at 
Narragansett  Bay  with  Dr.  Berkeley,  instantly  recognised  the  Indians  to  be  the  same 
people  as  the  Siberian  Tartars  whose  pictures  he  had  taken.  I  shall  show  that  the 
language  of  the  Siberian  Tartars  and  that  of  the  Tongousi,  have  an  extensive  range  in 
North   America."  * 

A  farther  striking  coincidence  between  the  Mongolian  race  and  that  of  the  American 
Indian,  may  be  noticed  in  their  roving,  wild,  and  savage  disposition.  The  following 
picture  of    the   Indian    is   believed    to   be   a   faithful    portrait: 

"  The  native  bent  of  the  Caucasian  is  to  civilization.  Of  the  North  American  the 
reverse  is  true.  Savageism,  a  roving  life,  and  a  home  in  the  forest,  are  as  natural 
to  them,  and  as  essential  to  their  existence,  as  to  the  buffalo  or  the  bear.  Civilization 
is  destined  to  exterminate  them,  in  common  with  the  wild  animals,  among  which  they 
have  lived,  and  on  which  they  have  subsisted.  All  experience  admonishes  of  this.  In 
numbers  the  Indians  and  buffaloes  of  our  western  wilds  diminish  alike,  and  from  similar 
causes.  And  they  retreat  alike  from  civilization.  Neither  of  them  can  flourish  in  a 
domesticated  state.  As  soon,  and  as  much  in  conformity  with  nature,  shall  -the  olive 
be  fruitful  on  the  coast  of  Labrador.  As  readily  shall  the  wolf  and  fox  become  faithful 
house-dogs,    as   the    entire   Indian    a   civilized    and    cultivated    man."  f 

The  Mongolian  race,  as  the  American,  contains  several  subdivisions,  many  tribes 
possessing  dissimilar  customs,  habits,  and  languages.  But  throughout  the  whole  north 
of  Asia,  we  find  this  family  leading  a  nomadic  or  roving  and  savage  life.  Equally 
given  to  war  and  to  the  chase,  they  both  reject  the  light  of  civilization  gleaming  over 
their    southern    borders. 

From  philological  affinity,  from  the  identity  of  craniological  developements,  and  from 
their  national  characteristic  wildness,  may  we  not  fairly  infer  that  the  North  American 
Indians    and  "the   northern   Asiatic  tribes    have    had    a  common  origin? 

*  Dr.  B.  S.  Barton,    pp.  XVI,  XVII. 

t  N.  Am.  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  XII :  article  on  "  Unity  of  the  Human  Race." 

H 


30  AN  INQUIRY   INTO  THE   ORIGIN 

Here,  means  of  access  to  specimens  which  would  throw  light  on  the  connexion  between 
the  civilized  portion  of  aboriginal  America  and  the  Old  World  have  been  very  limited; 
yet  as  far  as  they  go,  they  are  very  conclusive.  By  referring  to  the  opposite  plate,  a  striking 
coincidence  of  craniological  developement  is  perceived.  Fig.  1  is  the  cranium  of  an 
Egyptian  mummy,  presented  by  Belzoni  to  Mr.  Dorfeuille  of  this  city,  and  now  in  his 
possession.  The  cranium  has  a  severe  gash  on  the  frontal  bone.  Fig.  2  is  the 
representation  of  a  cranium  dug  from  an  ancient  burying-ground  at  the  temple  of 
Pacha-Camac  at  Lurin,  fourteen  miles  from  Lima  ;  it  is  in  possession  of  S.  W. 
Pomcrov,  jr.  Esq.  of  this  city.  Figs.  3  and  4  arc  the  representation  of  a  Mexican 
Emperor  and  his  attendants,  as  portrayed  on  a  "has  relief  Mcxicaine,"  taken  from  the 
folio    edition   of    Baron    Humboldt's   Views   of    the   Cordilleras,   published    at   Paris. 

In  the  first  two  crania  we  notice  the  usual  want  of  frontal  elevation,  and  a  similarity 
of  occipital  depression.  In  the  other  figures,  the  flatness  is  on  the  frontal  bone,  and 
corresponds  with  that  represented  in  fig.  4  of  plate  I.  This  limited  comparison,  however, 
though  the  resemblances  may  be  strong,  cannot  fairly  afford  sufficient  basis  whereon  to 
ground   an   argument. 

In  the  communication  from  Dr.  Warren,  which  has  been  heretofore  alluded  to,  he 
distinctly  states  his  belief  that  the  existing  race  of  Indians  originally  came  from  the 
northern  part  of  Asia  ;  but  in  the  report  of  his  essay,  no  reasons  are  advanced  in 
support  of  that  conclusion.  The  most  important  item  therein  is  thus  stated:  "Anatomy 
shows  there  is  much  resemblance  between  the  crania  of  the  race  of  the  mounds  and 
ancient  Peru,  with  those  of  the  modern  Hindoos."  The  similarity,  too,  is  so  striking 
as  to  induce  him  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  the  race  of  the  mounds  and  of  Peru 
are  derived  from  the  southern  part  of  Asia.  From  the  paucity  of  craniological  collections, 
and  the  limited  means  of  information  on  this  topic,  we  must  base  our  opinion  on  the 
testimony  of  the  learned  Doctor,  and  on  the  resemblances  exhibited  in  the  plate  just 
referred   to.      Perhaps    this    opinion    may  be  confirmed  by  the  next  topic,  viz: 


PLATE    II 


>>nm\  n 


^»  *J&/*»  ■&&    t^zSt    &6*€>e&**t4£ . 


rSu/6*,'/fy      n       t;    BQROaBfl    k-CO       ■^'fy    'Stia*^*^ 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  31 


THE    MYTHOLOGICAL    EVIDENCE. 

"A  learned  writer,  Count  Scholberg,  who  has  made  some  curious  comparisons 
between  the  mythological  ideas  of  different  nations,  has  hazarded  the  hypothesis  that 
the  two  religious  sects  of  India,  the  worshippers  of  Vishnu  and  those  of  Siva,  had 
spread  themselves  into  America;  and  that  the  Peruvian  worship  was  that  of  Vishnu, 
when  he  appeared  under  the  form  of  Chrishna,  or  the  Sun :  whilst  the  sanguinary 
worship  of  the  Mexicans  is  analogous  to  that  of  Siva,  when  he  takes  the  character  of 
the  Stygian  Jupiter."  *  It  is  by  no  means  a  slight  coincidence  that,  in  the  civilized 
family  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  there  exist  two  religions,  corresponding,  as  to  Deity,  with 
the  mydiological  worship  of  two  sects  in  the  country  which  both  philology  and  anatomy 
have  indicated  as  the  place  of  their  origin  :  the  one  worshipping  the  sun  with  peaceful 
offerings;  the  other,  with  cruel  immolations  of  human  victims,  adoring  the  deity  of  wrathful 
impulses. 

The  greatest  festival  of  the  Peruvians  was  that  of  the  sun,  or  "  Raymi."  "  The 
nobles,  governors,  the  principal  and  other  commanders,  all  endeavored  to  be  present  at 
this,  the  grandest  of  the  four  annual  feasts,  held  after  the  solstice,  in  June.  The  Inca 
attended   in  person,   as  the  high   priest   and    eldest    son  of   the    luminary,    their   god."  f 

By  a  reference  to  Sir  Wm.  Jones'  Works,  it  will  be  found  that  "  Rama,  the  Hindoo 
god,  is  one  of  the  Children  of  the  Sun."  J  "  His  wife's  name  is  Sita,  and  it  is  very 
remarkable  that  the  Peruvians,  whose  Incas  boasted  the  same  descent,  style  their  great 
festival  Rama-Sitoa."  "  The  Egyptian  women,"  said  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  "  made 
sacred  cakes  of  flour,  which  they  offered  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven  at  their  principal 
solar  festivals,  called  Raymi  and  Citoa.  The  Peruvian  women  did  the  same.  .  It  is 
also    a    Hindoo    custom,    still    existing."  § 

*  Trans.  Views  of  Cordilleras,  p.  213. 

|  Ranking's  Conquest  of  Peru,     pp.  183,  184. 

t  Sir  Wm.  Jones1  Works,  vol.  1,  p.  298. 

5  Ilees'  Cyclop,  art.  "  Rama  " 


32  AN   INQUIRY   INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

Here,  again,  is  a  coincidence  between  the  aborigines  of  America  and  the  southern 
Asiatics,   that   we    cannot   fairly    attribute    to   mere   chance. 

"The  Mexicans  had  some  ideas  of  a  supreme  God,  to  whom  they  gave  fear  and 
adoration.  They  did  not  represent  him  by  any  visible  form,  calling  him  'Teotl,'  or 
God,  to  whom  they  applied  expressions  highly  characteristic  of  his  nature.  They  also 
believed  in  an  evil  spirit,  called  '  TlacatccolotlJ  or  '  rational  owl.'  *  They  had  three 
places  for  the  souls  of  departed  mortals.  Those  who  died  in  battle,  or  in  captivity  with 
enemies,  and  women  in  labor,  went  to  the  House  of  the  Sun,  where  they  led  a  life 
of  unbounded  delight  and  pleasure.  They  supposed  that  after  four  years  had  passed 
in  this  happy  state,  the  souls  then  went  to  animate  clouds,  and  birds  of  beautiful  feather. 
The  Tlascalans  believed  the  souls  of  persons  of  rank  tenanted  the  bodies  of  nobler 
animals  than  those  of  the  plebeians,  who  were  supposed  to  pass  into  weasels,  beetles, 
and  such  insignificant  animals.  Those  who  were  drowned,  struck  by  lightning,  died  of 
dropsy,  tumors,  &c.  went  along  with  the  souls  of  children,  at  least  those  sacrificed  to 
Tlaloc,  |  God  of  Water,  to  a  cool  and  delightful  place,  called  Tlalocan,  where  that  god 
resided,  and  where  they  were  to  enjoy  the  most  delicious  repasts,  with  every  other  kind 
of  pleasure.  The  third  place,  allotted  for  tho  souls  of  those  who  suffered  any  other 
kind  of  death,  was  called  31ictlan,  or  Hell,  which  they  supposed  was  a  place  of  utter 
darkness   in    the   north,    or,   as   others    said,   in    the   centre   of   the    earth."  \ 

Here  we  recognise,  at  once,  the  Hindoo  mythological  fable  of  the  metempsychosis  — 
the  transmigration  of  the  soul  into  the  bodies  of  birds,  of  clouds,  of  animals,  and  of 
reptiles.  Is  this  coincidence  merely  accidental  ?  Mr.  Maurice,  in  his  History  of  the 
Hindoos,  asserts  from  the  Aycen  Akbery,  that  this  doctrine  can  be  found  in  the  earliest 
writings   of  the   Hindoos,   which    are    as   old    as    the   Pentateuch  of  Moses. 

*  Tho  Mexicans  were  in  the  habit  of  worshipping  rude  sculptures  of  this  evil  spirit,  to  prevent  his  anger,  and 
consequent  dangerous  power.  One  of  these  images  was  dug  out  of  a  large  tumulus  in  the  city  of  Columbus,  the 
capital  of  Ohio,  and  was  exhibited  to  the  Historical  Society  when  an  abstract  of  this  essay  was  read  by  the  author. 
It  is  an  owl,  rudely  carved  out  of  a  block  of  sand-stone,  on  the  back  of  which  are  two  holes  apparently  bored  by 
u  conical  instrument,  and  in  such  a  direction  as  to  meet  at  the  points,  so  that  a  thong  can  be  passed  through,  by 
which  the  idol   can   be   suspend,*!. 

|  May  we  not  here  detect  the  analogous  worship  of  Gunga,  Goddess  of  Water,  in  Hindostan,  and  to  whom  mothers 
sacrificed  their  infant  children? 

X  Researches  on  Americii.  by  an  officer  of  the  army.     Bait.   1816. 


r  : 


l  ii  I L  h  v     >Bmyn 


'■■■"     'V      •'  ■    "     '    •    WJM^f 


■%J6oAed,fy     v.    O     BURGHS     K  CO     A?  27  £*rS  te. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  33 

But  although  these  analogies  are  striking,  if  these  people  came  originally  from  the 
southern  part  of  Asia,  from  the  birth-place  of  mankind,  there  must  be  found  among 
them  traces  of  the  early  history  of  the  human  family  as  handed  down  to  us  by  revelation: 
obscured,  of  course,  by  tradition,  yet  not  so  much  so  but  that  we  can  trace  their  identity. 
That   such   do    actually  exist,   we  will   endeavor   now  to   show. 

The  opposite  plate  is  the  copy  of  a  Mexican  painting  taken  from  the  Codex  Vaticanus, 
at  Rome,  whither  it  arrived  from  the  New  Continent,  shortly  after  the  early  conquests 
in  New  Spain.  It  will  be  found  in  the  Paris  folio  edition  of  Baron  Humboldt's 
"Vues  des  Cordilleres."  The  large  figure  represents  the  celebrated  "serpent  woman," 
Cihuacohuatl,  called,  also,  Tonacacihua,  "  woman  of  our  flesh."  The  Mexicans 
considered  her  the  mother  of  the  human  race.  She  is  always  represented  with  a  great 
serpent;  but  for  this  no  reason  is  assigned,  as  though,  in  process  of  time,  part  of  the 
tradition  were  lost.  Behind  the  serpent,  who  appears  to  be  speaking  to  Eve,  are  two 
naked  figures,  of  different  color,  and  in  the  attitude  of  contention.  The  serpent  woman 
was  considered  at  Mexico  as  the  mother  of  twin  children,  and  which  are  here 
represented.  This  part  of  the  painting  is  entirely  unexplained.  Baron  Humboldt  supposes 
they  represent  Cain  and  Abel,  of  Semitic  tradition.  He  considers  the  other  figures, 
however,  merely  as  vases,  respecting  which  a  quarrel  may  have  ensued.  I  would 
respectfully  suggest  that  (if  so  much  be  conceded,  as  is  necessarily  true,  that  the  chief 
figures  are  Eve,  the  serpent,  Cain  and  Abel)  then  the  others  are  the  two  altars,  one 
of  which,  standing  erect,  bears  the  offering  of  Abel,  viz:  a  ram,  the  horns  of  which 
are  rudely  delineated:  while  the  other  is  the  altar  of  Cain,  rejected  by  the  Almighty, 
and  therefore  painted  upside  down,  containing  his  offering,  viz:  the  fruits  of  the  earth. 
Baron  Humboldt  thinks  the  difference  of  the  color  of  Cain  attributable  perhaps  to  fancy 
or  chance.  May  we  not  consider  it  typical  of  the  mark  set  on  the  murderer  by 
Jehovah  for  the  heinousness  of  his  guilt?  For  it  will  be  noticed  that  Abel  is 
represented  with  the  same  tint  as  Eve;  and  from  the  general  care  in  the  distribution 
of  colors    through    the   piece,    we   cannot    infer    want    of   design. 

A    tradition    exists    among    the   native   Mexicans   bearing    close    analogy   to    the    Semitic 

account    of   the    flood,    the    building   of   the     tower    of    Babel,     and    its    destruction;     and 

I 


31  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

which  corresponds  with  the  early  traditions  of  Xisthurus  of  the  Hindoos.  A  manuscript 
of  Pedro  do  los  Rios,  a  Dominican  monk,  who  copied  on  the  spot  all  the  hieroglyphic 
paintings    he    could    procure    in    New    Spain,    A.    D.    1566,    says 

u  Before  the  great  inundation,  which  took  place  four  thousand  eight  hundred  years 
after  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  country  of  Anahuac  (Mexico)  was  inhabited  by 
giants.  All  those  who  did  not  perish  were  transformed  into  fishes,  except  seven,  who 
fled  into  caverns.  When  the  waters  subsided,  one  of  these  giants,  Xelhua,  surnamed 
'  the  Architect,'  went  to  Cholollan,  where,  as  a  memorial  of  the  mountain  Tlaloc,  which 
had  served  as  an  asylum  to  himself  and  his  six  brethren,  he  built  an  artificial  hill, 
in  the  form  of  a  pyramid.  He  ordered  bricks  to  be  made  in  the  province  of  Tlananalco, 
at  the  foot  of  the  sierra  of  Cocotl,  and  to  convey  them  to  Cholula,  he  placed  a  file 
of  men,  who  passed  them  from  hand  to  hand.  The  gods  beheld  with  wrath  this 
edifice,  the  top  of  which  was  to  reach  the  clouds.  Irritated  at  the  daring  attempt  of 
Xelhua,  they  hurled  fire  on  the  pyramid.  Numbers  of  the  workmen  perished.  The 
work  was  discontinued,  and  the  monument  was  afterwards  dedicated  to  Quetzalcoatl, 
the    God    of   the    Air." 

A  very  remarkable  analogy  between  the  mythology  of  the  civilized  family  of  Mexico 
and  Peru,  and  the  nations  of  southern  Asia,  is  to  be  found  in  their  respective 
cosmogonical  fictions  of  the  periodical  destructions  and  regenerations  of  the  world.  The 
correspondence  is  truly  singular.  It  is  attributable,  perhaps,  to  their  being  traditionary 
corruptions  of  historical  anecdotes  of  early  dates,  known  to  mankind  only  when  they 
were  in  proximity  at  the  birth-place  of  the  world.  Perhaps,  after  stating  the  traditions 
of  the  New  Continent,  wc  may  trace  the  anecdotes  to  which  they  allude,  and  thereby 
exhibit  an  additional  degree  of  evidence  to  that  which  has  thus  far  been  presented,  to 
show  that  southern  Asia  was  the  original  home  of  the  civilized  aboriginal  race  of  America. 
The  following  description  of  the  Mexican  cosmogony  is  condensed  from  the  valuable 
work  of    Baron    Humboldt,    "  des    anciens   monumens    de   1'Amerique." 

The  sacred  books  of  the  Hindoos,  especially  the  Bhagavita  Pourana,  speak  of  the 
four  ages,  and  of  the  pralayas,  or  cataclysms,  which,  at  different  epochs,  have  destroyed 
the  human  race.  Gomara,  in  his  Conqitista,  fol.  CXIX,  says  that  the  natives  of  Culhua 
believe,   according    to    their    hicroglyphical    paintings,   that,    previous    to    the    sun   which    now 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  35 

enlightens  them,  four  had  already  been  extinguished.  These  four  suns  are  as  many 
ages,  in  which  our  species  has  been  annihilated  by  inundations,  by  earthquakes,  by  a 
general  conflagration,  and  by  the  effect  of  destroying  tempests.  The  Codex  Vaticanus, 
at  Rome  No.  3738,  contains  the  drawings  which  are  represented  on  the  annexed  pages, 
being  copies  of  native  hieroglyphic  paintings,  made  by  the  Dominican  monk,  Pedro  de 
los  Rios,  A  D.  1566.  They  illustrate  the  destruction  of  the  world  at  the  expiration 
of  each  age,  and  are  described  in  a  very  curious  history,  written  in  the  Aztec  tongue, 
fragments  of  which  have  been  preserved  by  the  native  Mexican,  Fernando  de  Alvar 
Ixtlilochitl.  The  testimony  of  a  native  writer,  and  the  copies  of  Mexican  paintings, 
made  on  the  spot,  merit,  undoubtedly,  more  confidence  than  the  recital  of  the  Spanish 
historians. 


Tho  first  cycle  here  represented  had  a  duration  of  five  thousand  two  hundred  and 
six  years.  This  numher  is  indicated  by  nineteen  rounds  on  the  right  of  the  picture, 
thirteen  of  which  are  surmounted  by  a  feather,  which,  in  the  3Iexican  calendar,  is  the 
hieroglyphic  denoting  "  the  square  of  twenty."  By  multiplying  the  thirteen  years  by 
the  square  of  twenty,  viz:  400,  and  then  adding  the  six  upper  rounds,  we  have  the 
duration  of  the  cycle  of  this  age  of  the  world.  This  age  is  called  by  the  Mexicans 
Tlalfonitiuh,  age  of  the  earth,  and  corresponds  with  the  age  of  justice  (Sakia 
Youga)  of  the  -Hindoos,  and  the  golden  age,  or  reign  of  Saturn,  among  the  Greeks. 
The  termination  of  this  age  was  a  direful  famine.  The  hieroglyphic  painting  represents 
a  malignant  spirit  descending  on  the  earth  to  root  up  the  grass  and  the  flowers.  Three 
human  figures,  among  which  we  easily  recognise  a  woman,  by  her  head-dress  of  two 
small  tresses  resembling  horns,  hold  in  their  right  hands  a  sharp-edged  instrument,  and 
in  their  left,  fruit,  or  ears  of  corn.  The  spirit  that  announces  famine  wears  one  of  those 
rosaries  which,  from  time  immemorial,  have  been  in  use  in  Thibet,  China,  Canada,  and 
Mexico,    and    which   are    also    found   interred    with   the    occupants  of   the   ancient   tumuli. 


I 


a 

B 
IB 
31 


in 
3 
1 


^ 
£ 


Is 


m 


% 


n 
^ 

^ 

s 


m 

w 

3 
P 


4 
| 

^ 


The    duration   of   the    second    cycle   is    four    thousand   eight    hundred    and    four   years, 

deciphered     in    the     same    manner    with    the     preceding    cycle,    viz :     12  X  400  +  4  =  4804. 

This   is    "the   age  of  fire,"   called    Tletanotiuh,   or   "the   red    age,"   called    TzonchichiltecTc. 

The   painting   represents    the   god   of   fire,    Xiuhteuctli,    descending    on    the    earth.       As    the 

birds    alone    were    able    to   escape    the    general   conflagration,   tradition   states   that    all    men 

were  transformed   into   birds,   except  one   man    and    one   woman,    who   saved    themselves    in 

the   recess    of   a    cavern. 

K 


The  duration  of  the  third  age  was  four  thousand  and  ten  years :  10  X  400  +  10  =  4010. 
The  painting  exhibits  the  3Iexican  hieroglyphic  of  wind,  in  four  places,  and  the  age  is 
called  "  the  age  of  wind,"  Eliecatonitiuh.  At  the  termination  of  this  age,  men  perished 
by  hurricanes,  and  some  were  transformed  into  apes.  The  deity  descending  on  the  earth 
is  supposed  to  be  the  god  of  the  air,  and  his  sickle  seems  to  indicate  the  destructive 
force    of    hurricanes    in    uprooting    the    trees. 


s 


s» 


DO 

.3 


£1 


1 

5 


us 
•j. 

■M 

a 
x 
P 
- 


nS 

i 


The  fourth  cycle  lasted  four  thousand  and  eight  years :  10  X  400  +  8  =  4008,  the 
termination  of  which  was  a  great  inundation,  which  destroyed  all  mankind.  Men  were 
transformed  into  fish,  except  one  man  and  one  woman,  who  saved  themselves  in  the 
trunk  of  an  ahuehuete,  or  deciduous  cypress,  (cupressus  dysticha.)  The  drawing  represents 
the  goddess  of  water,  and  Noah  and  his  wife,  (Coxcox  and  Xochiquetzal,)  seated  on 
the    trunk  of   a   tree,    covered   with   leaves,    and    floating    amidst   the    waters. 

The  detached  hieroglyphics  on  the  left  hand  of  these  pictures  are  the  astronomical, 
or  rather  zodiacal  symbols,  denoting  the  day  on  which  each  catastrophe  is  believed  to 
have   occurred. 


v 


40  AN  INQUIRY  INTO   THE    ORIGIN 

These  traditions  probably  refer  to  events  which  occurred  in  the  earliest  ages  of 
mankind;  for  \vc  can  trace  a  similitude  in  the  ancient  mythological  fables  of  almost  all 
nations.  Here  we  are  presented,  however,  with  a  scries  of  events,  believed,  according 
both  to  the  southern  Asiatics  and  Mexicans,  to  have  been  cosmogonical  cataclysms. 
Thev  have  received  them  as  traditions  handed  down  through  the  lapse  of  ages,  from 
parent  to  child.  Now  we  possess  the  light  of  revelation.  We  have  an  authentic  history 
of  the  earliest  ages  of  the  world,  and  from  this  we  may  derive  a  standard  with  which 
to  compare  these  curious  relics  of  mythology,  establish  the  events  to  which  they  allude, 
and    cut    off  all    that    is   mere    fable   or    corrupted    tradition. 

One  cycle  was  terminated  by  a  direful  famine.  Now,  we  arc  informed  in  the 
sacred  volume  that  *•  the  seven  years  of  dearth  began  to  come,  according  as  Joseph  had 
said ;  and'  the  dearth  was  in  all  lands."  "  And  the  famine  was  over  all  the  face  of  the 
earth;  and  Joseph  opened  all  the  store-houses,  and  sold  unto  the  Egyptians;  and  the 
famine  waxed  sore  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  all  countries  came  into  Egypt  to 
Joseph  for  to  buy  corn ;  because   that   the    famine   was    so  sore   in   all    lands."  * 

This  may  perhaps  be  the  origin  of  the  tradition  on  which  is  founded  the  mythological 
fable  of  the    age  of  famine. 

Again :  the  second  cycle  was  the  age  of  fire.  Men  perished  by  fire,  except  a  man 
and  a  woman,  who  escaped  by  fleeing  to  and  dwelling  in  a  cave.  May  not  this  easily  be  sup- 
posed a  corruption  of  the  true  version  of  the  destruction  of  the  cities  of  the  plain?  The 
holy  word  describes  clearly  the  destruction  of  certain  cities,  in  these  words:  "Then  the 
Lord  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of 
Heaven.  And  he  overthrew  those  cities,  and  all  the  plain,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  cities,  and  that  which  grew  upon  the  ground.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  God 
destroyed  the  cities  of  the  plain,  that  God  remembered  Abraham,  and  sent  Lot 
out  of  the  midst  of  the  overthrow,  when  he  overthrew  the  cities  in  which  Lot  dwelt. 
And   Lot    went    up    out   of    Zoar.     and    dwelt    in    the    mountains,    and    his    two    daughters 

*  Genesis,  XLI,  v.  54,  56. 


OF  AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  41 

with    him  ;    for  he   feared   to   dwell    in  Zoar,   and   he   dwelt    in    a   cave,   he   and    his   two 

daughters."* 

The  third  cycle  is  difficult  of  solution.  No  passage  in  holy  writ  occurs  to  me  as 
furnishing  the  incident  to  which  it  alludes.  It  may  perhaps  refer  to  the  destruction  of 
the  tower  of  Babel,  which  (we  learn  from  Josephus)  was  destroyed  by  hurricanes.f 
The   sequel,   we   think,  will  justify  this   conclusion.      (See   pages  70,   71.)   . 

The  fourth  cycle  was  terminated  by  a  great  deluge,  which  is  beyond  doubt  a  traditionary 
account  of  that  recorded  in  the  sacred  volume. 

It  may  be  urged  that  these  events  are  not  in  chronological  order.  In  reply,  it  is 
to  be  observed,  that  their  arrangement  in  this  manner  is  a  matter  of  dispute  among  all 
antiquarian  mythologists,  and  that  either  way  may  be  correct.  We  find  only  one  writer 
indeed  who  arranges  them  in  the  manner  here  given,  all  others  taking  them  in  the  order  in 
which  we  know  the  events  to  have  actually  occurred.  Be  it  either  way,  the  mere  order  of 
narration    is    of    no  importance  compared  with  the  matter  itself. 

Here,  then,  we  close  the  mythological  evidence  by  a  brief  summary,  viz:  That  first, 
proof  is  adduced  showing  an  identity  between  the  religious  sects  of  India  and  Mexico, 
and  between  the  deities  of  each  country;  and  a  close  correspondence  is  detected  in 
their  cosmogony.  Still  farther  and  more  important  evidence,  however,  renders  the  point 
conclusive  that  southern  Asia  was  the  birth-place  of  this  people,  as  we  detect  among 
them  actual  traditions  of  the  flood,  the  building  of  Babel,  and  the  death  of  Abel;  and 
from  their  cosmogony,  we  think  we  trace  farther  traditions  of  the  famine,  and  the 
destruction  of  the  cities  of  the  plain.  These  historical  facts  stamp  their  origin  conclusively, 
as  they  are  peculiar  to  those  who  have  once  been  residents  of  the  country  where  the 
transactions    occurred. 

*  Genesis,  XIX,  v.  24,  25,  29,  and  30. 

t "  Ot  it  Sat  tmptiiK~irrimiA-{cirTK  ay£Tge-{.*i>  ten  Tlv^ym,  km  ifutr  scaa-Ta  <f»»v£iTaixav."     Josephus,  Ant.  I,  1,  c.  4 

I- 


42  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


THE    HIEROGLYPHIC    EVIDENCE. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  sources  of  comparison  between  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Egypt, 
is  to  be  found  in  an  investigation  of  their  hieroglyphic  system.  Each  of  these  countries  had 
a  peculiar  method  of  recording  events  by  means  of  hieroglyphic  signs,  sculpturing  them  on 
monuments  and  buildings,  and  portraying  them  on  papyrus  and  maguey.  Before,  however, 
these  came  into  use,  we  find  a  different  custom  prevailing,  which  was  also  common  to  those 
races. 

Speaking  of  the  ancient  Peruvians,  Acosta  says:  "Their  registers  and  accounts  were 
kept  by  strings,  with  knots  upon  them  of  different  colors:  yellow  to  represent  gold,  red  for 
soldiers,  white  for  silver,  <fcc."  "He  saw  a  woman  with  a  handful  of  these  strings,  which, 
she  said,  contained  a  general  confession  of  her  life."  *  "  Before  the  introduction  of 
hieroglyphical  painting,  the  nations  of  the  vale  of  Mexico  made  use  of  these  quipos,  and 
they  are  found  among  the    Canadians."  f 

Father  DuIIaldc,  in  his  History  of  China,  distinctly  asserts  that  "  '  Fohi,'  the  first 
Emperor  of  China,  finding  the  knotted  cords,  hitherto  used  by  the  Chinese,  were  unfit  to 
publish  his  laws,  therefore  invented  characters.*'  Here,  then,  was  a  peculiar  custom,  identical 
in  the  earliest  ages  between  the  Peruvians,  the  Mexicans,  and  the  colonists  from  southern 
Asia,  who   founded    the  Chinese  Empire  under   their  first  monarch,  "  Fohi." 

As  yet  there  has  been  found,  among  the  3Iexican  nations  generally,  the  use  of 
hieroglyphical  paintings,  but  no  alphabetic  characters.  They  appear  to  have  been  operated 
on  as  the  Chinese,  who,  for  thousands  of  years  have  contented  themselves  with  two  hundred 
and  fourteen  radical  hieroglyphics,  the  inflexions  and  combinations  of  which  serve  their  purposes. 
It  were  impossible  at  present  to  enter  fully  into  an  analysis  of  3Iexican  and  Egyptian  hieroglyphics. 
This  is  a  task  in  reserve  for  some  future  Champollion,  whose  talent  and  ingenuity  will  find  a  rich 
field  open  to  him  in  the  vast  monuments  of  Copan,  Palenque,  Tenochtitlan,  and  Couzco.     They 

*  Acosta  in  Purchas:  vol.  Ill,  p.  1053. 
t  Ranking's  Conquest  of  Peru:  p.  147. 


wl  \  m  vm 


l.-.tt,  k.-s. 


^  //     S/Jlfr      O*     tS    ,>T      fc<*iti/Zr.ru/ 


SL&udaa    -(       \    i;  in  HUtss    B    CO,    .  /-V> 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  43 

are  yet  an  enigma  to  the  world  for  some  future  CEdipus  to  solve.  Let  us  endeavor,  however,  to 
establish  the  few  points  which  the  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  present  day,  touching  these 
subjects,  shows  to  possess  analogy. 

Hieroglyphic  writings  are  necessarily  of  three  kinds,  viz:  phonetic,  figurative,  and  symbolical. 

The  phonetic  symbol  is  that  which  expresses  sound.  These  signs  ChampoUion  has 
demonstrated  to  form  the  most  considerable  part  of  all  Egyptian  texts.  The  characters 
constitute  a  system  purely  alphabetical;  that  is,  each  character  corresponds  invariably  to  an 
alphabetical  letter.  This  species  of  writing  was  discovered  by  ChampoUion  in  deciphering 
foreign  names  on  the  monuments,  and  which  of  course  required  signs  expressive  of  sound  to 
their  inscription.  To  be  more  readily  understood,  the  drawing  on  the  opposite  page  represents 
the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  inscription  of  the  names  of  Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra,  as  they  appear 
on  the  Rosetta  monument  * 

The  names,  it  is  perceived,  are  surrounded  by  a  line,  called  by  ChampoUion  a  "  cartouche." 
These  rectangles  with  elliptical  terminations  are  always  used  to  designate  the  group  which 
composes  the  word.  The  idea  occurred  to  ChampoUion  that  the  symbols  comprehended. within 
these  cartouches  were  phonetic;  and,  on  examination,  he  elicited  the  following  result,  viz: 

Fig.  1.  The  Coptic  word  meaning  a  square,  gave  him  the  initial  P.  That  answering  to 
a  semi-circle  began  with  T.  The  flower,  with  the  stalk  bent  back,  called  "the  Jctiop"  in 
Coptic,  gave  the  letter  O.  The  Coptic  word  "  Labo"  gave  the  next  phonetic  letter.  Mouladj, 
latinice,  "  nyctycorax"  gave  M.  Two  feathers  gave  each  the  letter  corresponding  to  the 
Greek  E,  and  of  course  the  two  were  equal  in  value  to  the  letter  H  in  Greek;  while  the  final 
symbol  gives  the  initial  of  the  word  Sebianajo,  a  flute,  or  musical  wind  instrument.  If,  then, 
he  could  find  the  same  symbols,  corresponding  to  the  same  letters,  in  another  cartouche  and 
name,  his  discovery  would  be  complete ;  which  is  shown  in 

Fig.  2.  The  triangle  furnished  the  Coptic  K.  "  Labo"  again  gave  the  letter  L.  The 
feather  again  produced  the  initial  E.  The  flower  "knop"  once  more  corresponded  to  O. 
The  square  again  gave  the  initial  P.    Akom,  "  the  eagle,''  gave  the  letter  A.    Tot,  "  the  hand," 

*  Stuart's  Commentary  on  Greppo's  Essay  on  ChampoUion.     Appendix. 


44  AN    INQUIRY    INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

gave  die  tetter  T.  R/O,  "the  open  mouth,"  furnished  tho  initial  R.  And  Akom,  repeated, 
gave  once  more  die  letter  A.  The  somicirclo  and  oval  were  found,  hy  suhsequcnt  discovery, 
to  imply  the  feminine  gender. 

Here,  then,  are  the  names  I1TOAMHS,  and  KAEOOATRA,  written  in  phonetic 
hieroglyphics. 

'•  On  trouve  mnne  chcz  les  Mexicains  des  vestiges  de  ce  genre  d'hieroglyphes  que  Ton 
BppeQe  phonetiques,  et  qui  annoncent  des  rapports,  non  avcc  la  chose,  mais  avcc  la  Iangue  parleo. 
Chez  dee  peoples  a  demi  barfoarea  les  noms  des  individus,  ceux  des  villes,  et  des  montagnes, 
font  gem raleincnt  allusion  a  des  ohjets  qui  frappcnt  les  sens,  tels  que  la  forme  des  plantes  et 
des  aniiiiaiix.  !<•  feu.  Pair,  on  la  terrc.  Cctte  circonstancc  a  fourni  des  moycns  aux  peuples 
Aztequcs  do  pouvoir  eerire  les  noms  des  villes,  et  ccux  do  leurs  souverains.  La  traduction 
verhale  d'Axajiicatl  est  visage  d'cau;  celle  d'llhuicamina  fleche  qui  perce  le  ciel  :  ou  pour 
representer  les  rois  Motcuczoma,  Ilhuicamina,  et  Axajacatl,  le  peintrc  reunissoit  les  hieroglyphes 
de  l'eau  et  du  ciel,  a  la  figure  d'un  tete  et  d'une  fleche.  Les  noms  des  villes  de  Macuilxochitl, 
Quauhtinehan,  et  Tehuilojoccan,  significnt  cinq  fleurs,  maison  de  l'aigle,  et  lieu  des  miroirs; 
pour  indiqucr  ccs  trois  villes,  on  peignoit  une  fleur  placee  sur  cinq  points,  une  maison  de 
laquelle  sortoit  la  tete  d'un  aigle,  et  un  miroir  d'obsidienne.  De  cette  maniere,  la  reunion  du 
plusieiirs  hieroglyphes  simples  indiquoit  les  noms  composes;  elle  le  faisoit  par  des  signes  qui 
parloient  a  la  fois  aux  ycux  et  a  I'oroille;  souvent  aussi  les  caracteres  qui  designoient  les 
villes  et  les  provinces  eloient.  tires  des  productions  du  sol  ou  de  l'industrie  des  hahitans."  * 

Again:  -The  phonetic  system  of  the  Toltccans  is  intelligible  at  the  first  glance.  The 
sounds  intended  to  be  conveyed  hy  the  symbols  are  conveyed  symbolically  and  heraldicallv. 
The  names  common  even  to  this  day  among  the  American  aborigines,  such  as  'wolf,'  'great 
bear,1  •  rattlesnake.'  &C  are  represented  by  crests  rudely  fashioning  the  same  animal  form, 
which  surmount  the    helmets  of  their  warriors  and  the  diadems  of  their  kinss. 

"The  head  of  a  Toltccan  king  appears  along  with  the  others  sculptured  in  the  pyramidal 
lower  of  Palenqne.  Over  it  is  the  name  inscribed,  in  an  oblong  phonetic  rectangle, 
(corresponding    to    the    Egyptian  cartouche.)     The  name   is  Acatla-Potzix.     It  is   composed 

*  Vucs  des  Cordillcrcs,  folio:  pp.  64,  65. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  45 

of  two  words:  the  first  implying   'reeds,'  the   other  'hand.'     The   symbol  of   reeds,  therefore, 
and  the  symbol  of  a  hand,  convey  the  sound  of  the  name,  Acatla-Potzin."  * 

We  understand,  by  the  term  figurative  hieroglyphics,  signs  which,  in  their  natural 
forms,  are  images  of  objects  the  ideas  of  which  are   to  be  expressed. 

"On  the  Egyptian  monuments,  in  a  legend  which  refers  to  pillars,  to  edifices,  or  to 
sphynges  elevated  before  a  temple",  the  figures  of  these  objects  take  the  place  of  their  names. 
So  in  designating  the  ideas  of  their  gods.  They  made  representations  of  men  invested 
with  just  such  appearances  as  the  Egyptians  supposed  the  gods  to  exhibit  in  the  celestial 
world."  f 

This  is,  in  other  words,  the  simplest  form  of  hieroglyphic  writing,  being  mere  pictures 
of  objects  or  events  intended  to  be  recorded.  It  was  in  common  use  among  the  Mexicans, 
and   forms  no   small   proportion  of  the   vestiges  of  their  scriptural   remains. 

The  third  species  of  hieroglyphic  writing  is  the  tropical,  or  symbolic,  which  accomplishes 
in  the  art  of  writing  thoughts  or  abstract  ideas,  what  is  first  done  in  the  art  of  language,  viz: 
to  employ  what  rhetoricians  call  tropes,  or  figures  of  speech.  For  instance:  "to  denote 
impudence,  the  Egyptians  painted  a  fly,  because  this  creature,  being  more  frequently  than 
any  other  driven  away  by  force,  still  persists  in  returning.  To  denote  knowledge,  they  paint 
the  heavens  shedding  down  dew,  signifying  that,  as  fallen  dew  is  diffused  over  all  plants,  and 
makes  soft  and  pliable  only  those  which  in  their  own  nature  are  capable  of  being  softened,  but 
upon  those  which  are  in  their  own  nature  hard,  it  exerts  no  influence:  so  knowledge  is  diffused 
in  common  among  all  men,  but  only  those  who  are  born  with  a  happy  genius  seize  and  imbibe 
the  dew,  while  those  who  are  destitute  of  the  faculty  of  genius  remain  strangers  to  its  influence.";}; 

The  Mexicans  had  also  this  peculiar  method  of  hieroglyphic  inscription,  as  we  learn  from 
the  following  quotations:  "  The  Mexicans  not  only  represented  the  simple  images  of  objects, 
but  they  also  had  some  characters  answering,  like  the  signs  of  algebraists,  for  things  devoid 
of  figure,  or  of  difficult  representation."  § 

*  Foreign  Quart.  Rev.  XXXV,  for  Oct.  1838. 

t  Stuart  on  Greppo's  Champollion,  p. 
|  Stuart  on  Greppo's  Champollion. 

5  Researches  on  America,  by  an  officer  of  the  army.     Bait.  1816. 

M 


46  AN    INQUIRY    INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

Again:  "Such  as  had  form  or  figure,  were  represented  by  proper  images;  and  such  as 
had  not  any,  wire  represented  by  characters  that  signified  them;  and  by  this  means  they  figured 
and  writ  what  they  would."  *  *  "They  did  also  write  these  discourses  after  their  manner 
by  characters  and  images;  and  I  have  seen,  for  my  better  satisfaction,  the  pater  noster,  ave 
Maria,  and  siinbol,  or  general  confession  of  our  faith,  written  in  this  manner  by  the  Indians. 
And.  in  truth,  whosoever  shall  sec  them  will  wonder  thereat;  for,  to  signify  these  words,  I,  a 
sinner,  do  confess  myself,  they  painted  an  Indian  upon  his  knees,  at  a  religious  man's  feet. 
as  one  that  was  confessing  himself;  and  for  this,  To  Ciod  most  mighty,  they  painted  three 
faces,  with   their  crowns,  like  to  tho  Trinity."  * 

Baron  Humboldt  considers  the  Mexican  paintings  as  rather  corresponding  with  the  hieratic 
than  the  hieroglyphic  writings  of  the  Egyptians,  as  found  on  the  rolls  of  papyrus  in  the  swathings 
of  the  mummies,  and  which  may  be  considered  paintings  of  a  mixed  kind,  because  they  unite 
symbolical  and   isolated  characters  with  the  representation  of  an  action. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  the  author  that  farther  investigations  and  discoveries  in  deciphering 
Mexican  hieroglyphic  paintings  will  exhibit  a  close  analogy  to  the  Egyptian  in  the  use  of  two 
scriptural  systems:  the  one  for  monumental  inscription,  the  other  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
record  and   transmission  of  information. 

We  find  the  three  species  of  hieroglyphics  common  to  Mexico  and    Egypt.     It  is   not   to 

be  expected    that  the    same    lines,  figures,  and   marks  arc  to    be    discovered   in   each   country. 

An    identity  of    characters   would  be  impossible;   as,   in  Egypt,  at  least   sixty  objects  might  be 

selected  by  the  writer   to  give    the  phonetic  A.      In  Mexico  sixty  others  might  be  enumerated, 

of  objects  never  seen  in  Egypt,  and  which  yet  might  be  employed  to  represent  the  same  letter. 

In  the  lapse,  also,   of  a   few  generations,    particularly  of  a   peoplo  constantly  driven  from    their 

homes,   and  compelled    to    wander   to    new  scenes,   new   symbols  would    be  used  to    represent 

phonetic  characters;    and   they  would    naturally  be  selected    from  objects   in  their  new  abodes, 

and  which  would  be   familiar   to  their    immediate  descendants.      Tho   author  thinks,    then,  that 

identity  of  symbols  is  not  to  be  looked  fir;  hut  that  the  existence  of  the  same  scriptural  system 

in  both   countries  is  no  slight  evidence  in  favor  of  an  early  unity  of  origin. 
♦Acosta,  L.  VI,  c.  7. 


OP    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  47 

In  tracing,  then,  the  ancestry  of  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  by  analogy  in  their  hieroglyphic 
system,  where  shall  we  take  them  but  to  Egypt  and  to  southern  Asia?  "  We  seek  in  vain,  on 
the  elevated  plain  of  central  Asia,  or  farther  to  the  north  and  the  east,  for  nations  who  have 
made  use  of  this  hieroglyphic  painting,  which  has  been  practised  in  the  country  of  Anahuac 
ever  since  the  end  of  the  seventh  century.  The  Kamtschadales,  the  Tongooses,  and  other 
tribes  of  Siberia,  described  by  Stralenbergh,  paint  figures  which  represent  historical  facts. 
Under  every  zone  we  find  nations  more  or  less  addicted  to  this  kind  of  painting.  But  there  is 
a  wide  distance  between  a  plate  covered  with  certain  characters,  and  those  Mexican  manuscripts, 
which  are  all  composed  according  to  a  uniform  system,  and  which  may  be  considered  as  the 
annals  of  the   empire."  * 

*  Trans.  Hum.  Res.  by  H.  M.  Williams,  vol.  1,  p.  168. 


48  AN   INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


THE  ASTRONOMICAL   EVIDENCE 

Of  the  origin  of  this  civilized  American  family  in  Southern  Asia,  is  of  no  slight  importance 
On  this  subject  has  a  flood  of  light  been  already  thrown  by  Mons.  Bailly,  in  his  Histoire  de 
I'Ancienne  Astronomic,  Baron  Humboldt,  and  the  celebrated  French  savan,  Mons.  Jomard. 
So  much,  indeed,  has  been  said  by  them,  that  the  analogies  were  better  quoted  from  their  own 
writings,  than  presented  in  a  mere  digest.  How  truly  has  the  intention  of  the  great  Creator 
been  borne  out  by  all  races  of  men,  when  it  was  declared  by  Him,  "  Let  there  be  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  the  heaven,  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night;  and  let  them  be  for  signs  and  for 
Masons,  and  for  days  and  for  years." 

From  the  earliest  ages,  we  find  skill  and  knowledge  in  astronomy;  and  the  more  we 
examine,  the  more  we  arc  surprised  at  the  extent  of  astronomical  science  in  the  earliest  history 
of  the  world. 

The  investigations  of  Mons.  Bailly  in  the  astronomy  of  the  ancients  generally,  of  Mons. 
Jomard  in  that  of  Egypt,  and  of  Baron  Humboldt  in  that  of  Mexico  and  South  America, 
present  most  striking  instances  of  coincidence,  not  only  in  their  divisions  of  time,  but  also  in 
the  zodiacal  signs. 

The  author  has  selected  from  these  works  the  most  striking  analogies,  and  here  presents 
mem,  in  a  free  translation: 

"  The  civil  year  of  the  Aztecs  was  a  solar  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days. 
It  was  divided  into  eighteen  months  of  twenty  days  each.  To  these  eighteen  months,  or  three 
hundred  and  sixty  days,  they  added  five  days,  to  complete  the  year,  and  then  commenced 
;iLr;iin  anoihcr  year. 

"  The  names  Tonalpohualli  and  Ccmpohualilhuitl,  which  distinguish  the  civil  from  the  ritual 
calendar,  define  plainly  their  peculiar  character.  The  first  of  these  names  means  'account  of 
the  sun,'  (comptc  dti  soleil,)  in  contradistinction  to  the  ritual  calendar,  called  '  an  account  of 
the  moon,'  (romptc  de  la  tune,)  or  Metzlapolhualli.  The  second  name  above  given  is  derived 
from  cempohualli,  '  twenty,'  and  ilhuite,  '  a  feast.'    It  has  allusion   both   to   the  twenty  days  in 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  "  49 

every  month,  and  to  the  twenty  solemn  feasts  celebrated  in  the  course  of  a  civil  year,  in  the 
TeocaUis,  or  Houses  of  God. 

"A  passage  in  the  History  of  the  Incas,  by  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  induced  Bailly  and 
Lalande  to  believe  that  the  Peruvians  calculated  by  cycles  of  seven  days.  '  The  Peruvians,' 
says  Garcillasso,  '  count  their  months  by  the  moon ;  they  count  their  half  months  by  the 
increase  and  decrease  of  the  moon,  and  compute  the  weeks  by  quarters,  without  having  any 
particular  names  for  the  week  days.'  "  * 

Acosta  differs  from  Garcillasso  in  this  particular,  and  Humboldt  attributes  to  him  greater 
weight  of  authority,  on  account  of  his  "  having  composed  the  first  books  of  his  Physical  History 
of  the  New  Continent  at  Peru;"  but  his  reason  for  their  recognition  of  the  period  of  seven 
days  is  not  altogether  satisfactory  when  he  says:  "It  is  indebted  for  its  origin  to  the  number 
of  the  planets."  [Elle  doit  son  origine  au  nombre  des  planetes.]  To  satisfy  us  on  this  point, 
the  connexion  between  the  two  should  be  explained. 

Humboldt,  however,  not  recognising  the  reasons  given  by  Acosta,  nor  yet  admitting  that 
Garcillasso  was  accurate,  says:  "After  short  reflection  on  the  Peruvian  calendar,  we  may 
perceive  that,  though  the  phases  of  the  moon  change  almost  every  seven  days,  the  correspondence 
is  not  yet  exact  enough  to  produce,  in  a  lapse  of  several  consecutive  months,  an  agreement 
between  the  cycle  of  seven  days  and  the  phases  of  the  moon.  The  Peruvians,  according  to 
Polo,  and  many  other  contemporaneous  writers,  had  years  [huata]  containing  three  hundred 
and  sixty  days,  numbered  and  calculated  on  solar  observations  made  day  by  day  at  Couzco. 
The  Peruvian  year  was  divided,  as  is  customary  in  southern  Asia,  into  twelve  moons,  [guilla,] 
the  synodical  revolutions  of  which  end  at  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  days,  eight  hours,  and 
forty-eight  minutes.  To  correct  the  lunar  year,  and  make  it  agree  with  the  solar,  they  added, 
according  to  an  ancient  custom,  eleven  days,  which,  after  an  edict  from  the  Incas,  were 
distributed  among  the  twelve  moons.  After  this  disposal,  it  is  impossible  that  four  equal 
periods,  into  which  they  might  have  divided  the  lunar  months,  could  be  composed  of  seven  days 
each,  and  yet  coincide  with  the  phases  of  the  moon.  The  same  historian,  whose  evidence  is 
cited  by  Mr.  Bailly  in  support  of  the  opinion  that  the  week  of  the  Hindoos  was  known  by  the 
Peruvians,  attests  that,  in  consequence  of  an  ancient  law  of  the  Inca  Pachachutec,  they  ought 

*  Vues  des  Cordilleres,  folio,  Paris,  pp.  127,  128. 

N 


50  AN   INQUIRY    INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

to    have,  in    every   lunar  month,   three  holidays  and   market  days,  [calu.]  and  that  the  people 
were  obliged  to  work,  not  6even,  but  « i ii  1 1 1  consecutive  days,  taking  rest  on  the  ninth."  * 

This  is.  however,  wrapped  in  some  obscurity.  One  inference  may  be  deduced  therefrom, 
and  thai  of  no  light  weight,  viz:  that  in  this  regularly  returning  period,  whether  of  seven  or 
of  nine  days,  a  Sabbath  was  observed — a  day  of  rest  was  appointed  and  kept  Whence 
could  this  custom  have  derived  its  origin?  What  nations  do  we  find  with  their  regularly 
returning  sabbath,  other  than  those  who  came  from  the  birth-place  of  the  world?  The  North 
American  Indian  knows  no  sabbath,  and  ill  this  instance  may  be  noticed  the  dissimilarity  of 
the  ancient  race  of  America,  compared  with  the  Mongolian  family  which  expelled  them  to 
Mexico  and  Peru,  from  the  prairies  of  the  Wabash  and  Ohio. 

••  Wo  see,  from   what  has  been  said  elsewhere,  that  the  Mexican  year  exhibited,  like  that 
of    the    Egyptians,  and   that  of   the   new  French   calendar,    the    advantage  of   a   division   into 
months  of  equal  duration.    The  seven  complementary  days,  the  epagomenai  [     —  "n-a^,™"— 
of  the  Egyptians,  were  indicated  by  the  Mexicans  under  the  name  of  nemontemi,  or  '■empty.''  "  | 

This  is  no  slight  analogy,  to  find  the  system  of  intercalation  and  the  number  of  complementary 
days  identical  between  Mexico  and  Egypt.  But  perhaps  a  still  more  striking  instance  presents 
itself  to  us  in  a  comparison  of  the  zodiacal  signs  of  southern  Asia  and  this  civilized  aboriginal 
race  of  America.  Baron  Humboldt  collected  and  arranged  in  a  tabular  form  the  names  of  the 
Mexican  hieroglyphic  zodiacal  signs.  They  were  compiled  by  him  from  the  various  writers 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  From  this  it  appears  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  names  by  which 
the  Mexicans  indicated  the  twenty  days  of  their  month,  are  those  of  a  zodiac  used  since  the 
remotest  antiquity  by  the  inhabitants  of  eastern  Asia.  The  table  to  illustrate  this  is  here 
introduced,  viz: 

*  Vucs  des  Cordillcres,  p.  129. 
t  Vues  des  Cordillcres,  p.  130. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES. 


51 


HIEROGLYPHICS 

NACSHATRAS, 

OF  THE 

OR 

DAYS    OF    THE    MEXICAN    CALENDAR. 

LUNAR    HOUSES    OF    THE    HINDOOS. 

Atl,  eau,  water. 

Cipactli,  monstre  marin,  sea  mon- 
ster. 

(The  mahara  is  a  sea  monster  also.) 

Ocelotl,  tigre,  tiger. 

Tochtli,  lievre,  hare. 

Cohuatl,  serpent,  serpent. 

Serpent,  serpent. 

(Acatl,  canne,)  cane. 

Canne,  cane. 

Tecpatl,  silex,  couteau,  knife. 

Rasoir,  razor. 

(Ollin,  chemin  du  soleil,)  path  of 
the  sun. 

Traces  of  the  feet  of  Vishnu,  or 
the  sun. 

Ozonatli,  singe,  monkey. 

Singe,  monkey. 

Quanhtli,  oiseau,  bird. 

Itzcuintli,  chien,  dog. 

Queue  de  chien,  dog's  tail. 

(Calli,  maison,)  house. 

Maison,  house. 
_ 

As  a  matter  affording  some  evidence  of  the  course  of  migration  of  this  ancient  race,  and 
which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  hereafter,  a  second  table  is  here  inserted,  exhibiting 
die  analogy  between  the  zodiac  of  the  Mexicans  and  that  of  the  Mantchou  Tartars. 


ZODIAC    OF    THE    MANTCHOU     TARTARS. 

MEXICAN    ZODIAC. 

Pars,  tigre,  tiger. 

Ocelotl,  tigre,  tiger. 

Taoular,  lievre,  hare. 

Tochtli,  lievre,  hare. 

Mogai,  serpent,  serpent. 

Cohuatl,  serpent,  serpent. 

Petchi,  singe,  monkey. 

Ozonatli,  singe,  monkey. 

Nokai,  chien,  dog. 

Itzcuintli,  chien,  dog. 

Tukia,  oiseau  poule,  bird,  hen. 

Quanhtli,  oiseau,  aigle,  bird,  eagle. 

These  quotations  we  consider  very  positive  evidence  of  an  early  identity  between  the 
aboriginal  race  of  America  and  the  southern  Asiatic  and  Egyptian  family.  To  conclude  the 
testimony  on  this  point,  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  of  Mr.  Jomard  is  adduced: 


H  AN    INQUIRY    INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

"  I  have  also  recognized  in  your  memoir  on  the  division  of  time  among  the  Mexican 
nations,  compared  with  those  of  Asia,  some  very  striking  analogies  between  the  Toltcc  characters 
and  institutions  observed  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  Among  these  analogies  there  is  one  which 
is  worthy  of  attention.  It  is  the  use  of  the  vague  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days, 
composed  of  equal  months,  and  of  five  complementary  days,  equally  employed  at  Thebes  and 
Mexico,  a  distance  of  three  thousand  hwgnas.  It  is  true  that  the  Egyptians  had  no  intercalation, 
while  the  .Mexicans  intercalated  thirteen  days  every  fifty-two  years.  Still  farther;  intercalation  was 
proscribed  in  Egypt,  to  such  a  point  that  the  kings  swore,  on  their  accession,  never  to  permit 
it  to  be  employed  during  their  reign.  Notwithstanding  this  difference,  we  find  a  very  striking 
agreement  in  the  length  of  the  duration  of  the  solar  year.  In  reality,  the  intercalation  of  the 
Mexicans  being  thirteen  days  on  each  cycle  of  fifty-two  years,  comes  to  the  same  thing  as  that 
of  the  Julian  calendar,  which  is  one  day  in  four  years;  and  consequently  supposes  the  duration 
of  the  year  to  be  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  six  hours.  Now  such  was  the  length  of  the 
year  among  the  Egyptians,  since  the  sothic  period  was  at  once  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
sixty  solar  years,  and  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-one  vague  years;  which  was,  in 
some  sort,  the  intercalation  of  a  whole  year  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  days  every  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty  years.  The  property  of  the  sothic  period  —  that  of  bringing 
back  the  seasons  and  festivals  to  the  same  point  of  the  year,  after  having  made  them  pass 
successively  through  every  point  —  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  reasons  which  caused  the 
intercalation  to  be  proscribed,  no  less  than  die  repugnance  of  die  Egyptians  for  foreign 
institutions. 

-  Now  it  is  remarkable  that  the  same  solar  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  six 
hours,  adopted  by  nations  so  different,  and  perhaps  still  more  remote  in  their  state  of  civilization 
than  in  their  geographical  distance,  relates  to  a  real  astronomical  period,  and  belongs  peculiarly 
to  the  Egyptians.  This  is  a  point  which  31.  Tourier  will  ascertain  in  his  researches  on  the 
zodiac  of  Egypt.  No  one  is  more  capable  of  deciding  this  question,  in  an  astronomical  point 
of  view.  He  alone  can  elucidate  the  valuable  discoveries  which  he  has  made.  I  shall  here 
observe,  that  the  Persians,  who  intercalated  thirty  days  every  hundred  and  twenty  years;  the 
Chaldeans,  who  employed  the  era  of  Narbonassar;  the  Romans,  who  added  a  day  every  four 
years;  the  Syrians,  and  almost  all  the  nations  who  regulated  their  calendar  by  the  course 
of  the  sun.  appear  to  me  to  have  taken  from  Egypt  the  notion  of  a  solar  year  of  three  hundred 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  53 

days.  As  to  the  Mexicans,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  examine  how  they  attained  this 
knowledge.  Such  a  problem  would  not  be  soon  solved;  but  the  fact  of  the  intercalation  of 
thirteen  days  every  cycle,  that  is,  the  use  of  a  year  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days 
and  a  quarter,  is  a  proof  that  it  was  either  borrowed  from  the  Egyptians,  or  that  they  had 
a  common  origin.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  the  year  of  the  Peruvians  is  not  solar,  but 
regulated  according  to  the  course  of  the  moon,  as  among  the  Jews,  the  Greeks,  the  Macedonians, 
and  the  Turks.  However,  the  circumstance  of  eighteen  months  of  twenty  days,  instead  of 
twelve  months  of  thirty  days,  makes  a  great  difference.  The  Mexicans  are  the  only  people 
who  have   divided  the  year  in  this   manner. 

"A  second  analogy  which  I  have  remarked  between  Mexico  and  Egypt  is,  that  the 
number  of  weeks,  or  half  lunations  of  thirteen  days,  comprehended  in  the  Mexican  cycle, 
is  the  same  as  that  of  the  years  of  the  sothic  period;  this  number  is  1461.  You 
consider  such  a  relation  as  accidental  and  fortuitous;  but  perhaps  it  might  have  the 
same  origin  as  the  notion  of  the  length  of  the  year.  If,  in  reality,  the  year  was  not 
of  the  length  of  365  days,  6  hours,  that  is  —■  days,  the  cycle  of  52  years  would  not 
contain  5^^,  or  thirteen  times  1461  days;  which  makes  1461  periods  of  thirteen  days."  * 
"  A  half-civilized  people,  the  Araucans  of  Chili,  have  a  year  (sipantu)  which  exhibits  a 
'  still  greater  analogy  with  the  Egyptian  year  than  that  of  the  Aztecs.  Three  hundred 
and  sixty  days  are  divided  into  twelve  months  (ayen)  of  equal  duration,  to  which  are 
added,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  at  the  winter  solstice,  (huamathipantu,)  five  complementary 
days.  The  nycthemerse,  like  those  of  the  Japanese,  are  divided  into  twelve  hours, 
(clagantu.")  f 

On  a  review  of  the  evidence  thus  presented,  we  notice,  first,  a  close  correspondence 
in  the  division  of  the  year,  month,  and  week;  second,  an  identity  in  their  zodiacal 
signs;    third,   the    common    use   of   intercalation. 

Upon  the  strength  of  these  few  quotations,  we  are  willing  to  base  the  argument  from 
astronomy. 

*  Trans.  Hum.  Res.  vol.  2,  p.  224.     (By  H.  M.  Williams.) 
f  Do.  do.        p.  234  Do. 

O 


51  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL   EVIDENCE. 

The    remains    of    this    ancient    race     which     most    attract    attention,     are    the    tumuli, 

ramparts,    ami    fossa,    which    they  constructed     whilp.     dwelling    in     this     region.  These 

vary    in    size    and     figure:    here     exhibiting    no     small    knowledge   of   castrametation,   in    the 

display    of    "curtains,"    "covert    ways,"    &c;    and    there    denoting    the    well-guarded    sacred 

fanes,    the     "  high    places,"    where    once    the    gathering    throng    assembled    either    to    adore 

the   Deity,    or    perform   the   last  offices   for    the    dead.      They  are   erected    without   reference 

to    any    particular    level,    as    sometimes    we    find    one    portion    resting    on    an   elevated    plain 

of    interval    land,   thence  running    up    a   declivitous    side-hill,    and    extending   some    distance 

on   its   summit.      The   number   and    frequency    of    tumuli    through   the   country   have    led    the 

writer    to    believe    that    they    have    not    only    been    used    as   the   last    home    of   the    warrior 

and   his  family,  but  that  they  have   served  as  scopuloi,  or   beacons,  and  points  of  observation, 

connecting    the    large    and   extensive    castra.      There    is    reason    to    believe    that    a   map  of 

North    America,    delineating    each    of    these   ruins  in  situ,  will    exhibit    a   connexion    between 

the     various    groups    of    ancient    walls,     by    means    of    intermediate    mounds,    a     signal     on 

which,    by    fire    or    otherwise,    would     transmit    with    ease    and     telegraphic    despatch,     the 

annunciation   of   hostile    approach,    or    a    call   for    assistance.      We    find,   too,   that    this   was 

a    common     practice    among    the    ancient    Peruvians.      "  At    each     quarter   of    a    league,    a 

cabin    was   built    upon    an    eminence,    in    which   five    or    six    active    Indians    are    stationed, 

and     more,    on     extraordinary    occasions.      They    watched    perpetually,    and     one    of   them, 

having     received    the    verbal    message,    which    was    the    common   mode,    though    the   quipos 

were    sometimes   used,   he    ran    on    to    the   next    station;    for    it   was   calculated    that    a    man 

could    go     a     quarter   of     a     league     at     his     full     speed.       On     rebellions,     the    news    was 

communicated    by   means    of    fires,    which    were    always     in    readiness    at    each    post;    and 

by   this    method    the    Inca    could    receive    intelligence    from    an    immense    distance   in    three 

or   four    hours." 

*  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  Book  VI,  chap.  7. 


l-.il.Vv  s« 


('.,    SA—  -v     7  -  f  0fi i irtti in- 


>W<irW<w£Ai      \    c.   BVB&EBS    «.     CO     .  V?s7  •'/?«*  ■  '<' 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  55 

The  larger  castra  are  near  water-courses,  at  least  so  far  as  the  observation  of 
the  author  has  extended;  and  at  intervals  along  the  streams  are  tumuli,  which  would 
be    visible,    one    from    the    other,   were    the    country   cleared   of   its    present    forest. 

Some  locations  indicate  a  judicious  selection  of  soil  for  cultivation;  while  others, 
again,    have    evidently   been    chosen   merely    for    convenience    to    ore,    and    for    manufactures. 

Throughout  Ohio  and  the  adjacent  States,  they  are  constructed  of  earth,  which,  in 
some  instances,  is  of  a  different  soil  from  that  on  which  they  are  placed,  and  must  have 
been  brought  a  distance  of  three  or  four  miles.  One  or  two  instances,  however,  may 
be  named,   which    are   exceptions   to   this    general   description. 

Not  far  from  Newark,  Licking  County,  and  near  the  Ohio  and  Erie  Canal,  stands  a  large 
tumulus,  built  of  stone,  a  right  cone  in  figure,  with  an  altitude  of  about  forty  feet, 
and  a  base  diameter  of  about  one  hundred  feet.  This  is  the  only  stone  pyramidal 
edifice   north  of   Mexico. 

In  Liberty  township,  Washington  county,  Ohio,  are  yet  to  be  seen  twenty  or  thirty 
rude  furnaces,  built  of  stone,  with  hearths  of  clay,  containing  pieces  of  stone-coal  and 
cinders,  perhaps  used  in  smelting  ore.  Large  trees  are  still  growing  on  them,  and 
attest  their  age.  They  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  body  of  iron  ore,  and  in  a  wild, 
hilly,    and    rough    part  of    the   country,    better    adapted    to    manufactures    than   to    agriculture. 

These  ancient  structures  are  traced  through  North  America  to  Peru.  The  residence 
of  the  Inca,  on  the  Cordillera  of  Assuay,  now  forming  part  of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient 
city  of    Chulucanas,    is    surrounded   by   terraces,    ramparts,    &c.    similar   to    our    own. 

In  the  drawing  on  the  opposite  page,  will  be  at  once  recognised  a  specimen  of 
our  ancient  remains,  viz:  an  elevated  terrace,  two  ramparts,  and  two  large  mounds. 
It  exhibits  the  ground  plan  of  a  splendid  building,  used  as  the  receptacle  of  the  remains 
of  the  princes  of  Tzapoteck,  a  powerful  Mexican  tribe.  It  is  called  the  palace  of 
Mitla,   a   contraction  of   the   word   "  Miguitlan,"    which    signifies,    "  place   of   desolation." 

In  North  America,  the  sepulchres  of  the  ancient  race  are  the  tumuli  of  the  country. 
In  Peru,  they  are  the  same.  "  The  Indians,  having  laid  a  body,  without  burial,  upon 
the  ground,  environed  it  with  a  rude  arch  of  stones,  or  bricks,  and  earth  was  thrown 
upon  it,  as  a  tumulus,  which  they  call  guaca.  In  general,  they  are  eight  or  ten  toises 
high,    and   about    twenty   long,   and   the   breadth   rather    less;    but  some    are    larger.       They 


56  AN    INQUIRY   INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

are  in  shape  not  precisely  pyramidal,  but  more  like  hillocks.  The  plains  near  Cayambe 
are  covered  with  them;  one  of  their  principal  temples  having  been  there,  where  the 
kings   and    caciques    of   duito   were   buried."  * 

In  the  North  American  tumuli,  various  articles  are  found  buried  with  the  occupant, 
such  as  idols,  clay  masks,  mica,  stone  axes,  silver  and  copper  rings,  and  rosaries. 
Precisely   similar   articles    are   discovered    in   the   sepulchres    of    Mexico   and    Peru. 

"In  the  tombs  of  Siberia,  and  the  deserts  which  border  it  southward,  are  found 
thousands  of  cast  idols  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  tin,  and  brass.  Some  of  the  tombs  are 
of  earth,  and  raised  as  high  as  houses,  and  in  such  numbers  upon  the  plain,  that,  at 
a   distance,   they   appear   like    a   ridge    of    hills."  f 

The  simple  tumuli  common  to  the  civilized  aborigines  of  America  and  of  southern 
Asia,  were  the  earliest  pyramidal  edifices.  In  process  of  time,  the  ruling  powers, 
ambitious  of  distinction,  caused  more  permanent  edifices  to  be  reared,  to  serve  as  the 
last  home  of  themselves  and  families,  and  to  form  also  the  temples  wherein  their  manes 
might  be  invoked,  and  propitiatory  sacrifices  be  offered  to  the  Deity.  Thus  we  find 
the  simple  tumulus  in  Egypt  grown  into  a  massive  stone  pyramid,  the  receptacle  of  the 
royal  sarcophagi.  In  Mexico  and  Peru,  we  find  the  imperial  sepulchre  enclosed  in 
pyramids    and    temples    no   way  inferior   to   the   Egyptian. 

"Among  those  swarms  of  nations  which,  from  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  century 
of  the  christian  era,  successively  inhabited  the  country  of  Mexico,  five  are  enumerated, 
who,  notwithstanding  their  political  divisions,  spoke  the  same  language,  followed  the  same 
worship,  and  built  pyramidical  edifices  which  they  regarded  as  the  houses  of  their 
gods."  J 

The  most  ancient  pyramids  of  the  Mexicans  are  those  of  Teotlihuacan,  and  are 
said   to  have   been  built    by   the   Toltec   race. 

"  The  group  of  pyramids  of  Teotlihuacan  is  eight  leagues  north-east  from  Mexico, 
in  a  plain  called  Micoatl,  or  the  "Path  of  the  Dead."  There  are  two  large  ones 
dedicated  to  the  sun,  (Tonitiuh,)  and  to  the  moon,  (Metzli;)  they  are  surrounded  by 
several   hundreds   of  small   pyramids,  which   form  streets,  in   exact  lines   from  north   to  south. 

*  Ulloa,  vol.  1,  p.  366.     Gent.'s  Mag.  vol.  XXII,  p.  210. 
|  Ranking1s  Conquest  of  Peru,  p.  238. 
|  Trans.  ~Vv.es  des  Cordillcres. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  57 

and  from  east  to  west.  One  is  fifty-five,  the  other  forty-four  metres  in  perpendicular 
height.  The  basis  of  the  first  is  two  hundred  and  eight  metres  in  length.  It  is, 
according  to  Mr.  Oteyza's  measurement,  made  in  1803,  higher  than  the  Myceninus,  the 
third  of  the  great  pyramids  of  Geiza,  in  Egypt;  and  the  length  of  the  base  is  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  Cephren.  The  small  ones  are  nine  or  ten  metres  high,  and  are 
said  to  be  burial  places  of  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes.  The  two  large  ones  had  four 
principal  stories,  each  subdivided  into  steps.  The  nucleus  is  composed  of  clay  mixed 
with  small  stones,  and  incased  by  a  thick  wall  of  porous  amygdaloid.  This  construction 
recalls  to  mind  that  of  one  of  the  Egyptian  pyramids  of  Sakhara,  which  has  six 
stories,  and  which,  according  to  Pocpcke,  is  a  mass  of  pebbles  and  yellow  mortar, 
covered    on    the   outside   with    rough    stones."  * 

The  pyramids  of  Dgizeh,  in  Egypt,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  are  also  surrounded 
by  smaller  edifices  in  regular  order,  and  closely  correspond  in  arrangement  to  what 
has   been    here    described. 

"The  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  most  celebrated  of  the  pyramidal  monuments  of 
Anahuac  is  the  teocalli  of  Cholula.  At  a  distance  it  has  the  aspect  of  a  natural  hill 
covered  with  vegetation.  It  has  four  stories,  all  of  equal  height.  It  appears  to  have 
been  constructed  exactly  in  the  direction  of  the  four  cardinal  points.  The  base  of 
this  pyramid  is  twice  as  broad  as  that  of  the  Cheops  in  Egypt,  but  its  height  is  very 
little  more  than  that  of  Mycerinus.  On  comparing  the  dimensions  of  the  House  of 
the  Sun,  in  Peru,  with  those  of  the  pyramid  of  Cholula,  we  see  that  the  people  who 
constructed  these  remarkable  monuments  intended  to  give  them  the  same  height,  but 
with  bases  of  length  in  proportion  of  one  to  two.  The  pyramid  of  Cholula  is  built 
of   unburnt  brick,    alternating  with    layers   of   clay."  f 

This  edifice,  it  would  appear,  closely  corresponds  with  the  great  temple  of  Bel,  or 
Belus,  at  Babylon,  as  described  by  Herodotus.  "It  is  a  square  building,  each  side  of 
which  is  of  the  length  of  two  furlongs.  In  the  midst,  a  tower  rises,  of  the  solid  depth 
or  height  of  one  furlong,  on  which,  resting  as  a  base,  seven  other  turrets  are  built  in 
regular    succession.       The    ascent    on    the    outside,    which    (winding    from    the    ground)    is 

*  Ranking's  Conquest  of  Peru,  p.  356.  p 

*  Essai  Politique  sur  la  Nouvelle  Espagne. 


58  AN   INQUIRY  INTO  THE   ORIGIN 


continued  to  the  highest  tower;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  whole  structure  there  is  a 
convenient    resting    place."  * 

A  strong  resemblance  to  this  structure  may  be  also  found  in  the  Mexican  temple, 
of    which    we    have    the    following    d     •  rijiiion,    viz: 

'•To  the  south-east  of  the  city  of  Cuernavaca,  (the  ancient  Quahnahuac,)  on  the 
western  declivity  of  the  Cordillera  of  Anahuac,  in  that  happy  region  designated  by  the 
inhabitants  under  the  name  of  '  tierra  tcniplada,'  (temperate  region,)  because  it  is  the 
reign  of  perpetual  spring,  rises  an  insulated  hill,  which,  according  to  the  barometrical 
measurement  of  31.  Alzate,  is  one  hundred  and  seven  metres  high.  The  Indians  call 
it,  in  the  Aztec  dialect,  '  Xochicalco,'  or  the  '  House  of  Flowers.'  The  hill  of  Xochicalco 
is  a  mass  of  rocks,  to  which  the  hand  of  man  has  given  a  regular  conic  form,  and 
which  is  divided  into  five  stories  or  terraces,  each  of  which  is  covered  with  masonry. 
These  terraces  are  nearly  twenty  metres  in  perpendicular  height,  but  narrow  towards  the 
top,  as  in  the  teocallis,  or  Aztec  pyramids,  the  summit  of  which  was  decorated  with 
an  altar.  The  hill  is  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  very  broad 4  ditch,  so  that  the  whole 
entrenchment  is  nearly  four  thousand  metres  in  circumference.  The  summit  of  the  hill 
of  Xochicalco  is  an  oblong  platform,  seventy-two  metres  from  north  to  south,  ninety-six 
metres  from  east  to  west.  This  platform  is  encircled  by  a  wall  of  hewn  stone,  more 
than  two  metres  high,  which  served  as  a  defence  for  the  combatants.  In  the  centre 
of  this  spacious  military  square,  we  find  the  remains  of  a  pyramidical  monument,  which 
had  five  stories,  the  form  of  which  resembled  the  teocallis  we  have  already  described. 
Among  the  hieroglvphical  ornaments  of  the  pyramid  of  Xochicalco,  we  distinguish  heads 
of  crocodiles  spouting  water,  and  figures  of  men  sitting  cross-legged,  according  to  the 
custom   of   the    several   nations   of    Asia."  t 

From  this  may  we  not  learn  the  intention  of  the  embankment  around  the  large 
tumuli  of  North  America:  for  instance,  at  Circleville  and  3Iarietta?  And  do  we  not 
clearly  see  that  this  race  continued  the  same  manner  of  constructing  their  "  high  places" 
in    Mexico   and    Peru,    with   the   improvements   incident    to    their   permanent  location    there? 

*  Herodotus,  book  I,  Clio,  cap.  CLXXXI. 

t  Trans.  Hum.  Res.  by  II.  M.  Williams,  vol.  I,  pp.  108,  109. 


OP    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  59 

Stone  had  taken  the  place  of  their  earthen  tumuli,  yet  the  defences  were  still  erected 
around   them,   for  protection   from   farther  predatory   incursions    of    their    northern    enemies. 

In  the  plan  before  given  of  the  ruins  of  Mitla,  the  distribution  of  the  apartments 
bears  a  striking  analogy  to  what  has  been  remarked  in  the  monuments  of  Upper 
Egypt,  as  drawn  by  Denon  and  the  savans  of  the  Institute  of  Cairo.  Nay,  the  building 
itself  is   in  the   form    of    the    Egyptian  Tau. 

We  find  one  feature  common  to  the  architectural  genius  of  these  races,  which  is 
to  be  discovered  nowhere  else.  We  allude  to  the  surprising  mechanical  power  they  must 
have  employed  in  constructing  their  works  of  massive  masonry,  such  as  the  present 
race  of  man  has  attempted  in  vain  to  move.  Travelers  in  Egypt  invariably  are  filled 
with  amazement  at  the  stupendous  blocks  of  stone  with  which  the  pyramids,  temples, 
and  tombs  are  constructed,  and  the  size  of  the  obelisks  and  monuments  yet  remaining. 
In  Peru   the   same    is    observed. 

"  In  the  time  of  Calla  Cunchuy,  an  effort  was  made  which  surpasses  human  belief; 
it  was  the  removing  the  monstrous  rock,  called  the  wearied  stone,  which  was  brought 
from  the  mountain.  About  twenty  thousand  natives  dragged  it  along  with  cables.  In 
letting  it  down  a  hill,  they  could  not  keep  their  hold,  and  it  fell  and  crushed  three 
or  four  thousand  men.  After  this,  it  was  dragged  by  main  force  to  the  place  where 
it  now  is  seen;  but  the  civil  war  of  Atahualpa,  and  the  conquest,  put  an  end  to  every 
thing,  without  distinction.  The  Indians  say  that  this  stone  wept  blood  at  not  reaching 
its   destined   position   in   the    fortress   of   Couzco."  * 

"  The  walls  of  the  palace  of  the  Incas  of  Quito,  named  Callo,  show  the  dignity 
and  magnificence  of  the  princes.  You  enter  through  a  passage  five  or  six  toises  long, 
into  a  court,  on  three  sides  of  which  is  a  spacious  saloon,  each  consisting  of  several 
compartments.  Behind  that  which  faces  the  entrance,  are  several  small  office.  This 
palace  is  entirely  of  stone,  almost  black,  and  as  hard  as  flint,  well  cut,  and  joined 
so  close  that  the  point  of  a  knife  cannot  be  put  between  them;  but  no  cement  is 
perceivable."  f 

"  On    a    mountain    north   of    Cuzco    is    the    famous    fort,   or  wall,    of    free-stone,   some 

*  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  vol.  II,  p.  255. 
|  Ulloa,  vol.  I,  p.  371. 


60  AN  INQUIRY   INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

of  such  prodigious  dimensions  that  human  reason  is  astonished  how  they  could  be 
brought  thither  and  fitted  so  neatly  that  the  joinings  are  not  seen  without  narrow 
inspection.  The  design  appears  to  have  been  to  inclose  the  whole  mountain,  as  a 
defence;   it    was  built    by  the  first   Inca,   Mango."  * 

Another  feature  presents  great  analogy.  Their  buildings,  particularly  the  sacred 
houses,  were  covered  with  hieroglyphics.  Each  race,  Egyptian,  Mexican,  and  Peruvian, 
recorded  the  deeds  of  their  gods  upon  the  walls  of  their  temples.  Nay,  science  was 
also  sculptured  thereon  in  both  countries,  in  the  form  of  zodiacs  and  planispheres, 
corresponding    even   in    signs. 

"In  the  sanctuaries  of  Palenque  are  found  sculptured  representations  of  idols  which 
resemble  the  most  ancient  gods,  both  of  Egypt  and  Syria;  planispheres  and  zodiacs 
exist,  which  exhibit  a  superior  astronomical  and  chronological  system  to  that  which  was 
possessed    by    the   Egyptians."  f 

In  the  ruin  of  Mitla,  the  ground  plan  of  which  has  been  given,  the  facade  of 
the  building  is  covered  with  a  very  beautiful  mat  work,  or  basket  scroll,  which  is  a 
characteristic  ornament  of  all  the  Toltecan  monuments,  which  is  often  found  in  the 
sepulchral  chambers  of  this  people,  and  which  Rosellini,  by  a  singular  coincidence, 
found    in    those   of   Egypt. 

Another  architectural  peculiarity  may  perhaps  point  out  a  passage  in  the  darkest 
history  of  these  people.  Vega,  in  his  narration  of  the  conquests  of  the  Incas,  says 
that  Mayta  Capac,  "to  shorten  his  march,  made  a  bridge  over  the  great  river  Apurimac, 
of  withes  twisted  together  into  five  cables  as  thick  as  a  man's  body,  and  stretched  them 
from  side  to  side,  so  that  it  hung  in  the  air,  two  hundred  paces  long,  and  more  than 
two  yards  broad.  Droves  of  loaded  mules  and  cattle  could  pass  over  it.  It  is  the 
admiration  of  posterity."  J  From  Clavigero  we  learn  they  had  the  same  kind  of 
bridges  in  Mexico.  §  Now  we  are  also  informed,  "  these  bridges  are  common  in 
Thibet  and    Bootan."  ||       Hereafter   we    shall    have    occasion    to   notice    this. 

*  Ulloa,  vol.  n,  p.  105. 

t  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  No.  XXXV,  for  October,  1836. 

t  Vega,  book  HI,  chap.  7. 

5  Clavigero,  vol.  I,  p.  389. 

||  Ranking's  Conquest  of  Peru,  p.  72. 


I  X . 


I*  1 1 1 1  t  •,  Datnyn 


{'.     /",•„,   /■}    ,/.j'/,V„-r/,s,</ 


'A/...         .  .     \   i:  m  uur.sfc  b  »'o  .  W27'3ZtAr«  ■'//■ 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  61 

While  on  the  subject  of  architecture,  useful  and  decorative,  it  were  well  to  present 
the  drawing  of  what  Baron  Humboldt  calls  the  statue  of  an  Aztec  priestess;  but 
which,  from  its  having  been  taken  from  the  ruins  of  the  celebrated  teocalli  of 
Tenochtitlan,    destroyed    by     Cortez     on     the     "disastrous    night,"     the    author    imagines    is 

the  model  of  an  inferior  divinity.      Be  it    either,  its  general   appearance    strongly  calls,    to 
mind   the   "  Magna  Mater  Isis"   of  the   Egyptian   mythology. 

On  a  review,  then,  of  the  architectural  evidence,  we  trace  identity  between  the 
Mexicans   and    Peruvians,    and  the   Egyptians,   in 

1.  The  coincidence  of  pyramidal   sarcophagi   and   temples,   and   their  peculiar  structure. 

2.  The  possession  of  the  same  architectural  and  mechanical  genius,  which  enabled 
them    to    remove   masses    which    our    mechanical    skill  has  not  attained  to. 

3.  The  peculiarity  of  hieroglyphic  inscription,  and  zodiacal  and  planispheric  sculpture 
in    their    sacred     buildings. 

4.  An   identity   of    architectural   sepulchral    decoration. 

5.  An    analogous    construction   of   bridges. 

6.  A    singular    analogy  in    the    specimen    given    of   their    sculpture. 

One  more  topic  remains  for  investigation,  in  our  tracing  the  origin  of  the  Mexicans 
and  Peruvians  by  analogy,  which  is  the  evidence  to  be  derived  from  their  manners 
and    customs.  q 


62  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS. 

The  author,  in  reading  an  essay  on  the  origin  of  the  antiquities  of  America,  before 
the  Historical  and  Philosophical  Society  of  Ohio,  presented  two  large  specimens  of  the 
"  pyrula  perversa,"  in  a  tolerably  good  state  of  preservation.  These  shells  are  frequently 
found  in  and  near  the  ancient  remains,  particularly  where  there  may  be  a  neighboring 
spring  of  water.  This  shell  is  not  to  be  found  on  the  coasts  of  North  or  South 
America,  with  the  exception  of  some  very  small  specimens,  discovered  by  M.  Say,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  largest  of  which  was  not  exceeding  two  inches  in  length. 
The  specimens  taken  from  the  tumuli  of  the  ancient  race,  vary  from  six  to  fourteen 
inches  in  length.  The  only  locality  where  these  specimens  .  abound  at  present,  the 
author  is  informed,  is  on  the  coast  of  Hindostan,  where  they  arc  used  even  to  this 
day  by  the  natives  in  their  religious  ceremonies.  The  shells  alluded  to,  in  this  event, 
afford    no    slight   evidence    of    a    primitive   departure    from   southern    Asia. 

A  custom  peculiar  to  these  ancient  families  is  to  be  found  in  the  embalming  of 
their    illustrious    dead. 

'•In  the  year  1560,  in  the  house  of  the  licentiate,  Paul  Ondegardo,  I  saw  five 
bodies  of  the  Incas,  three  men  and  two  women.  They  had,  till  now,  been  concealed 
from  the  Spaniards.  The  first  was  that  of  the  king,  Viracocha,  who,  by  his  snow-white 
hair,  appeared  to  have  been  very  aged.  The  next  was  his  nephew,  the  great  Tupac 
Yupanqui;  and  the  third  was  Huayna  Capac.  The  fourth  was  Mama  Runtu,  Queen 
of  Viracocha,  and  the  other  was  the  body  of  Coya  Mama  Oello,  mother  of  Huayna 
Capac. 

'•These  corpses  were  so  perfect  that  not  a  hair  of  the  head,  or  of  an  eyebrow,  was 
wanting.  They  were  in  such  dresses  as  they  wore  when  living,  without  any  other  mark 
of  royalty  than  the  Llantu  on  the  head.  They  were  seated  in  the  manner  of  Indians, 
with  the  hands  across  upon  the  breast,  and  their  eyes  towards  the  earth.  They  were 
in  such   good   preservation   that    they   appeared    almost  as    if    alive;    but   the    art    by  which 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  C3 

they   were    embalmed    is    lost.       I    touched    one    of  the    fingers     of    Huayna    Capac,    and 
found    it  as    hard    as    wood."  * 

In  what   other  family   than   the   southern   Asiatic  shall  we    look  for   this   last    memento 

of   respect    to    the    illustrious    dead?      Egypt    alone,  in    the    old    continent,   has    preserved 

her   greatest  men    with    sacred    care.      Peru,    in    the  New   World,   we    find,   has    done   the 
same. 

It  is  told  by  Vega,  that  in  Peru,  "lions,  tigers,  serpents,  and  toads,  were  made 
use  of  for  the  punishment  of  criminals.  At  the  time  when  I  left  Cuzco,  the  places 
where  the  serpents,  lions,  (puma,)  tigers,  (jaguar,)  and  other  animals  had  been  kept, 
were  still  shown;  one  was  near  the  citadel,  and  the  other  behind  the  convent  of 
St.    Dominic."  f 

"  The  Emperors  of  Hindostan  caused  criminals  to  be  put  to  death  by  elephants, 
lions,    &c.      The   same   was   the   custom   in   Peru."  % 

"The  Amantas,  or  philosophers,  composed  comedies  and  tragedies,  which  were 
performed  before  the  emperors  and  courtiers  by  gentlemen,  sons  of  governors,  &c.  They 
represented  the  triumphs  and  magnificence  of  their  lncas,  and  the  events  of  human  fife 
and    society,    with  'sententious   gravity   and    propriety. 

"  They  also  composed  short  ballads  on  love,  and  others  on  the  virtues  and  actions 
of   their    ancestors."  § 

"  In  the  evening,  the  Emperor  of  China  gave  the  lords  of  the  court  a  comedy. 
Only  three  or  four  actors  were  good.  The  plays  are  mostly  serious.  They  are  like 
the  histories  of  some  illustrious  persons,  interspersed  with  fable.  They  never  utter  a 
loose   expression,    or   say   any   thing   to    offend   a    modest    ear."  || 

"  The   Mexicans    had   similar   dramatic   representations."  \ 


*  Garcillasso  de  la  Vega,  book  V,  chap.  29;  book  HI,  chap.  20. 

t  Vega,  book  V,  chap.  10. 

\  Ranking.     Note  to  p.  207,  extracted  from  "Wars  and  Sports,"  chap.  Vffl,  p.  269. 

{  Vega,  book  II,  chap.  XXVH. 

||  Du  Halde,  vol.  II,  p.  343. 

T  Clavigero,  vol,  I,  p.  396. 


61  AN    INQUIRY   INTO    THE   ORIGIN 

"The.  Indians  of  Peru  had  such  fear  of  an  eclipse,  thai  as  soon  as  it  began  they 
made  a  terrible  noise  with  trumpets,  horns,  atabales,  and  drums;  besides  which,  they 
tied  up  dogs  and  beat  them  severely,  that  they  might,  by  their  barking,  cause  tho 
moon   to    be    roused    from    the    sufferings    it    was    undergoing    from    its    present    condition."  * 

M  In  China,  as  soon  as  tho  sun  or  moon  begins  to  be  darkened,  they  all  throw 
themselves  on  their  knees,  and  knock  their  foreheads  against  the  earth.  A  frightful 
noise  of  drums  and  cymbals  is  immediately  heard  throughout  the  whole  city.  The 
Chinese  think  that,  by  such  a  horrid  din,  they  assist  the  suffering  luminary,  and  prevent 
it  from  being  devoured  by  the  celestial  dragon.  Although  the  literati,  and  every  person 
possessed  of  the  least  knowledge,  at  present,  know  that  eclipses  are  natural  events,  they 
still  continue  these  ceremonies,  in  consequence  of  that  attachment  to  national  customs 
which    these    people    have    always    preserved."  t 

We  learn  from  Clavigero,  that  in  the  war  of  Mixtccapan,  under  Montezuma,  "  the 
slaughter  was  great;  six  thousand  two  hundred  prisoners  were  sacrificed,  and  their  skulls 
were   piled    in    the    edifice    Quaxicalco,    now   consecrated    for   their    preservation."  J 

In  1 526,  we  learn  that  the  Emperor  Baber,  in  Hindostan,  "  ordered  a  pyramid 
to   be    built    which    was    stuck    round   with    the   heads    of   the   slain."  § 

»  v 


Vega,  book  II,  chap.  23. 
t  Grosior's  China,  vol.  II,  p.  438. 
t  Clavigoro,  vol.  I,  p.  184. 
}  Dow,  vol.  II,  p.  130. 


OF   AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  65 


Let    us    now    take   a    brief    review     of     the    analogical    evidence   of    an    identity  of 
the   family  of   Mexico    and   Peru  with  that  of   Hindostan  or    Egypt,    to    simplify   which    we 
name   the    several   coincidences,   which    have   been  specified,   in   their   proper    order. 
I.    Philological.     The   various    analogies    in   language. 
II.     Anatomical.     The    peculiar    craniological    formation    common   to    those   countries,    as 

asserted   by   Dr.   Warren. 
TTT.     Mythological.     1.    The   existence    of   two    peculiar   modes   of   worship,   addressed   to 
two    deities:    one    sanguinary,    and    the    other    peaceful,    corresponding  with   Vishnu 
and   Siva. 

2.  The   identity   of   the    deity   Rama,    his   wife,    Sita,  and    the    festival    Rama  Sitoa. 

3.  The    prevalence   of   the    doctrine    of   the    metempsychosis. 

4.  The   painting    delineating   the   death   of   Abel. 

5.  The  four   cataclysms  of  the  world,  from   which  we  learn   their  traditions  of   events 

in   early  Asiatic    history. 
IV.    Hieroglyphic     1.     The   use    of   quipos,   or    knotted    cords. 

2.    The    use   o'f   the   three   peculiar   systems   of   hieroglyphic    writing    of   the   Egyptians. 
V.     Astronomical.     1.     Identity   in    the    division    of    the    year,    month,    and    week;     and 
the    calculations   thereof. 
2.    Identity  in   the  use    of   intercalary   days. 
'3.    Identity  in   zodiacal  signs. 
VI.     Architectural.     1.    Identity   in    sepulchral   tumuli. 

2.  Identity  in  pyramidal   temples. 

3.  In  the  uses   of   these   temples. 

4.  In    the    mechanical    power    which    enabled     them    to    move    masses    that    no    other 

races   have   ever   accomplished. 

5.  Their  use   of   hieroglyphic  sculpture    on    all   their  sacred   buildings. 

6.  Similarity   in   zodiacal    and   planispheric    carvings. 

7.  Identity  in   sepulchral   ornaments. 

R 


06  AN   INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

8.    The   peculiar   construction    of   bridges. 
!).     The   statue    of    the    Mexican   Deity. 
VII.     MvNNi:its    and   CC8TOH&     1.     The    use  of   pyrula    perversa   in    religious   or    other  rites. 

2.  Identity   in    practice  of   embalming   and   preservation  of   the   royal    corpses. 

3.  Identity    in   punishment    l>y   wild   animals. 

4.  Coincidence    in     the     monuments   of    victory,     built    and    ornamented    by   the    skulls 

of   the   slain. 

5.  Identity   in   the    existence    of   four   castes.     (See    postea.) 

It  will  doubtless  be  noticed  that  these  coincidences  at  one  time  are  drawn  from 
Egypt,  at  another,  from  Hindostan.  The  sequel  will  show  that  both  of  these  nations 
were  peopled  by  one  family,  and  will  satisfactorily  account  for  their  being  alluded  to 
indiscriminately  in  the  preceding  argument.  To  make  this  a  little  more  certain,  the 
author   here   introduces   one   or    two   paragraphs   from   a  standard    writer. 

"  The  temples  of  Nubia  exhibit  the  same  features,  whether  as  to  style  of  architecture 
or  the  form  of  worship  which  must  have  been  practised  in  them,  with  the  similar 
buildings  which  have  been  recently  examined  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bombay.  In  both 
cases  they  consist  of  vast  excavations,  hewn  out  in  the  solid  body  of  a  hill  or  mountain, 
and  are  decorated  with  huge  figures  which  indicate  the  same  powers  of  nature,  or  serve 
as   emblems    to   denote   the    same    qualities    in   the    ruling    spirits   of    the   universe. 

"The  sepoys  who  joined  the  British  army  in  Egypt,  under  Lord  Hutchinson, 
imagined  that  they  found  their  own  temples  in  the  ruins  of  Dcndera,  and  were  greatly 
exasperated  at  the  natives  for  their  neglect  of  the  ancient  deities,  whose  images 
are  still  preserved.  So  strongly,  indeed,  were  they  impressed  with  this  identity,  that 
they  proceeded  to  perform  their  devotions  with  all  the  ceremonies  practised  in  their  own 
land.  There  is  a  resemblance,  too,  in  the  minor  instruments  of  their  superstition,  the 
lotus,  the  linguam.  and  the  serpent,  which  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  accidental;  but 
it  is  no  doubt  in  the  immense  extent,  the  gigantic  plan,  the  vast  conception,  which 
appear  in  all  their  sacred  buildings,  that  we  most  readily  discover  the  influence  of  tho 
same    lofty   genius,    and    the    endeavor    to   accomplish    the    same    mighty   object. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  67 

"  But  the  most  striking  point  of  resemblance  between  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt  and 
India,  is  the  institution  of  castes  —  that  singular  arrangement  which  places  an  insuperable 
barrier  between  different  orders  of  men  in  the  same  country,  and  renders  their  respective 
honors,  toils,  and  degradation  strictly  hereditary  and  permanent.  In  allusion  to  the  four 
classes  into  which  the  natives  are  divided,  the  Hindoos  maintain  that,  of  their  god, 
Nara  Yana,  the  mouth  became  a  priest,  the  arm  was  made  a  soldier,  the  thigh  was 
transformed  into  a  husbandman,  and  from  his  feet  sprung  the  servile  multitude.  The 
narrative  of  Herodotus  bears  evidence  to  the  same  institution  at  an  early  period  among 
the   Egyptians,    and    his   statement  is    confirmed   by  Diodorus    Siculus."  * 

The  author  ought  by  no  means  to  omit  to  state  that  precisely  the  same  division 
of   caste    prevailed    among   the    ancient  Mexicans   and   Peruvians. 

*  Russell's  Modern  Egypt.    Int'n,  p.  23. 


AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 


We  now  enter  on  the  most  difficult,  yet  most  interesting  part  of  our  subject  —  the 
endeavor    to    trace    the   origin   and   history    of   the   aboriginal    race    of   America, 

We  are  informed  by  perhaps  the  most  learned  of  mythological  antiquarians,  that 
the  place  where  mankind  first  resided,  after  the  flood,  was  undoubtedly  the  region  of 
the  Minyae,  at  the  bottom  of  3Iount  Baris,  or  Luban,  which  was  the  Ararat  of  Moses.* 
These  mountains,  on  which  the  ark  rested,  are  in  Armenia;  and  the  plains  in  their 
neighborhood  were  the  places  where  Noah  and  his  family  dwelt,  immediately  after  they 
left  the  ark,  and  where  they  procured  their  first  subsistence  by  tilling  tho  ground  and 
increasing  their  herds  of  cattle,  f  The  holy  scriptures  tell  us  that  as  men  multiplied 
and  became  very  numerous,  it  pleased  the  Almighty  to  allot  to  the  various  families 
different  regions,  to  which  they  were  to  retire;  and  in  the  days  of  Peleg,  they  accordingly 
did  remove,  and  betake  themselves  to  their  different  departments.  An  impulsive  obedience 
to  the  Almighty's  distribution  seems  to  have  pervaded  all  except  the  house  of  Chus, 
or  Cush.  The  sons  of  Chus  seem  to  have  gone  off  in  a  disorderly  manner,  and  having 
for  a  long  time  roved  eastward,  they  at  last  changed  their  direction,  and  came  to  the 
plains  of  Shinar.  Here  they  seized  upon  the  particular  region  which  had  fallen  to  the 
lot  of  Assur.  Him  they  violently  ejected,  and  compelled  to  retreat  to  the  higher  regions 
of  Mesopotamia.  Under  the  arch  rebel,  Nimrod,  the  Cuthites  seem  to  have  increased 
greatly  in  strength  and  numbers,  and  to  have  formed  a  plan  for  a  mighty  empire. 
"  The  beginning  of  his  kingdom  was  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Caluch,  in 
the  land  of  Shinar.  And  that  out  of  the  land  he  went  forth  to  Assyria,  and  builded 
Nineveh,  and  the  city  of  Rchoboth,  and  Calah,  and  Rhesen  between  Nineveh  and 
Caleh;   the   same    is    a   great   city."  J 

Here,  then,  we  find  them  building  up  an  immense  empire.  "  People  of  other 
families    flocked    in    unto    them;    and    many   of   the    line    of    Shem    put    themselves    under 

*  Bryant.     Anc.  Myth.  vol.  IV,  p.  28. 

t  Remains  of  Japhct,  p.  10. 

}  Genesis,  chap.  X.  v.  10.  11.  12. 


OF   AMERICAN   ANTIQUITIES.  69 

their  dominion.  They  were  probably  captivated  with  their  plausible  refinements  in 
religion,  and  no  less  seduced  by  their  ingenuity,  and  by  the  arts  which  they  introduced. 
For  they  must  certainly  be  esteemed  great  in  science,  if  we  consider  the  times  in 
which  they  lived.  The  tower  of  Babel,  which  their  imperious  leader  had  erected, 
seems  to  have  been  both  a  temple  and  a  landmark,  from  which  they  had  formed  a 
resolution  never  to  recede.  It  therefore  seemed  good  to  Divine  Providence  to  put  a 
stop  to  this  growing  confederacy,  and,  as  they  had  refused  to  retire  regularly,  to  force 
them   by  judgments   to    flee    away,    and    to   scatter   them   into    different   parts."  * 

Chus,  or  Cush,  was  also  called  Cuth,  and  his  posterity  Cuthians,  or  Cuthites. 
This  name,  in  process  of  time,  received  the  prefix  of  the  Greek  2,  and  they  were  then 
termed  "s^s**"  or  Scythians.  The  countries  which  they  conquered  frequently  assumed 
the  name  of  Scythia,  no  matter  what  had  been  their  previous  appellations.  "Scytharum 
nomine  hoc  loco  per  antiquos  Euxini  Maris  accolas  intelligimus,  quocunque  nomine 
venirint.       Cimmerios   illic    Homerus   collocavit,   hos    a    Scythis  Herodotus   distinxit."  t 

We  learn  from  Epiphanius,  that  "those  nations  which  reach  southward  from 
that  part  of  the  world  where  the  two  great  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia  incline 
to  each  other,  and  are  connected,  were  universally  styled  "2;y/0<u»  according  to  an 
appellation  of  long  standing.  These  were  of  that  family  who,  of  old,  erected  the  great 
tower,  [of  Babel,]  and  who  built  the  city  of  Babylon."  J  We  thus  learn,  both  from 
profane  history  and  holy  writ,  the  extent  of  the  splendid  empire  founded  by  Nimrod, 
the  son  of  Cush,  who  not  only  built  the  cities  of  the  plain  of  Shinar,  but  founded  the 
ancient  Scythian  Empire.  This  empire  must  have  been  truly,  learned  in  science  and  art. 
Their  mechanical  skill  and  power  must  have  been  very  great,  as  we  may  ascertain  from 
their  vast  remains,  as  also  from  the  pages  of  inspiration,  which  tell  us  of  the  mighty  Babylon. 
Sir  William  Jones,  after  a  long  examination  of  the  various  nations  dwelling  in  southern 
Asia,  and  their  early  history,  uses  these  words  in  his  conclusion:  "Thus  it  has  been 
proved,  by  clear  evidence  and  plain  reasoning,  that  a  powerful  monarchy  was  established 
in  Iran   long   before   the   Assyrian  or   Pishdadi   government;   that   it  was   in    truth   a   Hindu 

*  Bryant.     Anc.  Myth.  4to.     Vol.  HI,  p.  262. 

|  Acta  Berolinonsia,  p.  5. 

a 
t  Epiphanius  adversus  Ha3res,  1. 1,  p.  6. 


70  AN    INQUIRY    INTO    THE    ORIGIN 

monarchv  —  tliouirh  if  any  choose  to  call  it  Cusean.  Cusdean,  or  Scythian,  we  shall  not 
enter  into  a  debate  on  names:  that  it  subsisted  many  centuries,  and  that  its  history  has 
been  engrafted  on  that  of  the  Hindoos,  who  founded  the  monarchies  of  Ayodhya  and 
Indraprestha."  *  Again:  in  speaking  of  this  same  empire,  alluding  to  its  advancement 
in  science  and  art.  he  >ay<:  •■  We.  may  therefore  hold  this  proposition  firmly  established, 
that  Iran,  or  Persia  in  its  largest  sense,  was  the  true  centre  of  population,  of 
knowledge,    <<f    languages,    and    of   arts:    which,    instead   of   traveling    westward    only,   as    it 

'  d  fancifully  supposed,  or  eastward,  as  ought  with  equal  reason  have  been 
asserted,  were  expanded  in  all  directions,  to  all  regions  of  the  world  in  which  the  Hindu 
race  had  settled,  under  various  denominations."  +  The  holy  writings  declare  explicitly 
the  manner  in  which  this  expansion  was  produced:  -And  they  said  one  to  another, 
go  to,  let  us  make  brick,  and  burn  them  thoroughly.  And  they  had  brick  for  stone, 
and  slime  had  they  for  mortar.  And  they  said,  go  to,  let  us  budd  us  a  city,  and  a 
tower  whose  top  may  reach  unto  heaven;  and  let  us  make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be 
scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And  the  Lord  came  down  to  see 
the  city  and  the  tower  which  the  children  of  men  budded.  And  the  Lord  said, 
behold  the  people  is  one,  and  they  have  all  one  language;  and  this  they  begin  to  do; 
and  now  nothing  will  be  restrained  from  them  which  they  have  imagined  to  do. 
Go  to,  let  us  go  down,  and  there  confound  their  language,  that  they  may  not  understand 
one  another's  speech.  So  the  Lord  scattered  them  abroad  from  thence  upon  the  face 
of  all  the  earth;  and  they  left  off  to  build  the  city.  Therefore  is  the  name  of  it 
called  Babel;  because  the  I/ird  did  there  confound  the  language  of  all  the  earth;  and 
from    thence    did    the   Lord    scatter    them    abroad    upon    the   face    of    all   the   earth."  f 

To  this  truth  even  profane  historians  bear  witness,  and  show  that  it  was  the  same 
race  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking,  that  thus  met  the  signal  punishment  of  Almighty 
God. 

Eupolemus  says,  that  "the  city  of  Babel  was  first  founded,  and  afterwards  the 
celebrated    tower;    both    which    were    built   by   some   of    those    people    who    had   escaped    the 

*  Sir  William  Jones1  Works,  vol.  I,  p.  92. 

t  Ibidem,  vol.  I,  p.  93. 

}  Gene?is,  crnp.  XI.  v.  3  to  9,  inclusive. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  71 

deluge.  fiiraj  h  *i/tsc  Tiya.iT*;.        They  were   ihe    same    who,  in    after   times,   were   recorded 

under   the   character   of   giants.      The   tower   was   at  length,   by   the  hand   of  the   Almighty, 
ruined,   and   these    giants  were   scattered   over    the   whole   earth.  * 

"Abydenus,  in  his  Assyrian  annals,  alludes  to  the  insurrection  of  the  sons  of  Chus, 
and  to  their  great  impiety.  He  also  mentions  the  building  of  the  tower,  and  confusion 
of  tongues;  and  says  that  the  tower,  analogous  to  the  words  of  scripture,  was  carried 
up  to  heaven;  but  that  the  gods  ruined  it  by  storms  and  whirlwinds,  and  frustrated  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  designed,  and  overthrew  it  upon  the  heads  of  those  who 
were  employed  in  the  work;  that  the  ruins  of  it  were  called  Babylon.  Before  this,  there 
was  but  one  language  subsisting  among  men;  but  now  they  had,  m^ejmv  <j>»w,  a  manifold 
sound,  or  utterance.  A  war  soon  after  ensued  between  Cronus  and  Titan.  He  repeats 
that  the  particular  spot  where  the  tower  stood  was  in  his  time  called  Babylon.  It 
was  so  called,  he  says,  from  the  confusion  of  tongues  and  variation  of  dialect:  for  in 
the    Hebrew   language,    such    confusion    is   termed   Babel,  f 

"  Upon  this  general  dispersion,  the  country  about  Babel  was  entirely  evacuated. 
A  very  large  body  of  the  fugitives  betook  themselves  to  Egypt,  and  are  commemorated 
under  the  name  of  '  the  Shepherds.'  Some  of  them  went  no  farther  than  Shinar,  a 
city  which  lay  between  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  to  the  north  of  the  region  which  they 
had  quitted.  Others  came  into  Syria  and  Canaan,  and  into  the  Arabian  provinces 
which  bordered  on  those  countries.  Those  who  fled  to  Shinar,  resided  there  some  time; 
but  being  in  the  vicinity  of  E3am  and  Nineveh,  they  raised  the  jealousy  of  the  sons 
of  Ashur  and  the  Elamites,  who  made  a  confederacy  against  them,  and  after  a  dispute 
of  some  time,  drove  them  from  their  neighborhood;  and  not  contented  with  this,  they 
carried  their  arms  still  farther,  and  invaded  all  those  of  the  line  of  Ham  westward, 
as    far    as    the    confines   of   Egypt.       This    was    the    first    part   of   the    great   Titanic    war, 

*  "  Eu;ro\i«oo  Si  iv  tcJ  ttipi  louSxjcoy  t»?  As-crygi*?  <j>jjs7,  7ro\rv  BuCuxav-J.  TPtorov  fxiv  xrurQayzt  Cttj  rw  StzaflejTuv  sk  too  xirxxtoo-ptw  uvu 
Si  cujtov;  Tlyzyr*.;.       OlKoSsuuv   Si  tov    itrpoupivcy    Tlvpyoy,    7rirovra;   Si  tcctoo    utto  th?  too  ©e;u  m^yuxcj   touc  Ttyavrct;    SiaLTTrajnwdu  n±b'  cxxv  T»v  yny.,y 

Apud.  Euseb.  Preup.  L.  IX.  p.  -116. 

t  "EvTi  Si  it  \eyzu<ri  touc  Trpwrcu;  ix.  yn;  etva-^^oyra.;  pa>^»  t£  xzt  juey£a  %awo-$ivt±;,  xvu  Sn  S'saiv  x*Tsc<pgGVH0wm?  ctfAiiycvAs  eiv=u,  7rvp^m  tvpjtw  i]\iCxtm 
allptrt,  tvx  yvv  Ba€y\ov  anr,  v.Sa  ts  ettrrov  uvzl  too  ovgzvw  xzl  rov;  M/ipw;  SiclM  fixBlivra.;  avJLT^ut  ttiqi  AvratTi  to  /uh^zw/ucl'  too  Sht*.  ipiiTtzL  \eyur8aj 
BaCvkwa.  Tito;  Si  ovtac  ofjuyhtofmv;  ix.  S-aaiv  7ro\uSpcvv  qwjtiv  £V£.'»ao"9*/.  M&ra.  Si  Kgov&?  xzi  Ttrml  <rvFrn<rsu  Troxijuov.  O'  Si  tcttc;,  ev  i  Trup^yw  (£x.cS;/xno-a.vt 
tut  BjCi/Xot  xixutsu,  <f;»  tot  trvyxvtm  tou  iripi  tot  Skthwrm  5rgarr»v  tHtgyouc.    'ECgsre;  y±^  tot  rvyxurn  Ba.G&.  xttcutr;." — Euseb.  Chron.  p.  13. 


72  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

in  which  the  king  of  Elam  was  principal.  We  are  informed  by  Moses,  that  they 
served  him  twelve  years,  and  in  the  thirteenth  they  rebelled;  and  in  the  fourteenth 
year  the  king  of  Elam  attacked  them,  in  conjunction  with  the  kings  of  Aram,  Ashur, 
and    Shinar;   for   Shinar   was   now    regained,   and   in   the    hands  of   the   Shcmites."  * 

The  extent  of  the  dissemination  of  this  family  of  Cush  may  bo  also  estimated 
from  their  various  appellations,  x*t*ju,  ajiTk,  n#rru,  ejuSjcuu,  aAutk,)  ikCm,  a/^,*™,  x*a/*«,  all  of  which 
names  are  given  them  by  early  writers.  The  region  between  the  Tigris  and  tho 
Euphrates  was  their  original  home,  and  was  called  Chusdim,  or  Chaldea.  One  branch 
of  this  race  extended  its  conquest  eastward,  invading  and  conquering  Elam,  which 
comprehended  Susiana  and  Chusistan,  now  the  Persian  empire.  Thence  they  descended 
the  Tigris,  advanced  to  India,  obtained  possession  of  the  navigation  of  the  Indus,  and 
made  themselves  masters  of  Hindostan,  which  they  peopled.  By  their  hands  were 
constructed  the  celebrated  mountain  temples,  yet  found  in  that  country,  and  which  bear 
so   close    an    analogy   to    those   built    by    their   brethren    in   Egypt. 

To  Mizraim,  the  brother  of  Cush,  seems  to  have  been  allotted  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  thither  his  descendants  appear  to  have  retired  a  long  time  before  the  destruction 
of  Babel.  They  were  attended  by  their  brethren,  the  sons  of  Phut.  They  had  no 
share  in  the  rebellion  of  the  Cuthites,  nor  in  the  Titanic  war  which  ensued.  The 
country  of  which  they  were  seized,  was  that  which,  in  after  times,  had  the  name  of 
Upper  Egypt.  They  called  it  the  land  of  Mezor,  and  the  land  of  Cham,  from  their 
two    chief   ancestors,    which   the   Greeks    rendered    Mezora   and   Chamia.  f 

"  The  Titanic  brood,  the  Cuthites,  being  driven  from  Babylonia,  fled  to  different 
parts,  and  one  very  large  body  of  them  betook  themselves  to  Egypt.  Eupolemus  speaks 
of  their  dispersion,  and  calls  them  giants.  —  TUmm  tt  t*t*  (t«  m,^.*)  vm,  w  t*  em  in$>««,  toi*  r*y=u,T« 
twrr^nu  xaX  ;*»?  -m  yn.  When  the  tower  of  Babel  was,  by  the  hand  of  Heaven,  overthrown, 
the  giants  were  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  We  may  perceive,  from  what 
has  preceded,  that  they  were  a  knowing  and  experienced  people,  of  a  family  which 
had  been  long  engaged  in  opposition,  and  tried  in  some  severe  conflicts.  As  they  had 
maintained     themselves    by    a    grand    confederacy,     they     knew    how    to    obey,    and    were 

*  Bryant.     Anc.  Myth.  4to,  vol.  IE,  pp.  262,  263. 
t  Ibidem,  vol.  Ill,  p.  233. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  73 

sensible  of  the  advantages  of  being  under  one  head.  It  is,  then,  no  wonder  that  a 
people,  well  disciplined  and  united,  should  at  once  get  the  sovereignty  over  a  nation 
so  rude  and  unexperienced  as  the  Mizraim.  They  took  Memphis  with  ease,  which  was 
then  the  frontier  town  in  Egypt.  This  they  held  solely  to  themselves,  and  afterwards 
overran  the  whole  region  above,  and  kept  it  in  subjection.  Manetho  might  therefore 
very  truly  say,  r<Jku^ni«^<iw. —  They  seized  the  country  without  the  least 
opposition;  not  a  single  battle  was  hazarded.  There  are  many  fragments  of  ancient 
history  which  mention  the  coming  of  the  Cuthites  from  Babylonia  into  the  land  of 
Mizraim,  and  the  country  changing  its  name.  An  account  of  this  sort  is  to  be  found 
in  Suidas.  He  tells  us  that  Rameses,  the  son  of  Belus,  (of  Babylonia,)  who  was  the 
son  of  Teuth,  came  into  the  region  called  Mestrsea,  and  gained  the  sovereignty  over 
the  people  of  the  country.  He  was  the  person  whom  they  afterwards  called  iEgyptus, 
and  the  region  was  denominated  from  him.  Others  say  that  it  was  Sethos;  others 
that    it    was    Belus,    who    was    called    iEgyptus;    and    that    from    him    the    country  had    its 

name.  — "Bums  <W    JAi\ctfi7tofsL;  ^uiwa^svo?  a?'  eu/TS   tot  £»£»    twrmy   mof/Mra   Aiywr<rot.n —  BelUS      having 

conquered  the  Mizraim,  styled  Melampodes,  called  the  country  after  one  of  his  own 
titles,  jEgyptus.  In  all  these  cases,  I  have  shown  that,  for  a  singular,  we  must  put  a 
plural,   and   by   Belus,    understand   a    people   styled    Beleidse,   who    came    from    Babylonia."  * 

These  people  brought  with  them  their  great  skill  in  mechanics.  When  they  had 
become  fairly  masters  of  the  country,  they  constructed  the  temples  and  great  monuments 
yet  remaining. 

"Juba,  in  his  history,  took  notice  that  the  city  of  Heliopolis  was  not  the  work 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  but  of  Arabians,  (Plin.  I.  VI,  p.  343;)  by  which  name  the 
sons  of  Chus  are  continually  distinguished.  They  raised  the  most  ancient  obelisks  in 
Egypt,  which  were  formed  of  one  piece,  yet  of  an  amazing  size;  and  the  granite  of 
which  they  consist  is  so  hard  that  scarcely  any  tool  now-a-days  can  make  an 
impression.  Hence  it  is  a  matter  of  wonder,  how  they  were  originally  framed  and 
engraved.  They  are  full  of  Hieroglyphics,  curiously  wrought,  which,  as  we  learn 
from    Cassiodorus,    were    ancient    Chaldaic    characters.       [Obeliscorum     prolixitas    ad     Circi 

T 

*  Bryant's  Anc.  Myth.  pp.  234,  235. 


74  AN    INQUIRY  INTO   THE    ORIGIN 

altitudiiirni  snlilcvaiiir:  Bed  priori  soli,  inferior  Luna;  dictatus  est  ubi  sacra  priscorum 
Chaldaieis  signis.  quad  litcris,  indicantur.  Cassiodorus,  1.  3,  epis.  2,  and  epis.  51.] 
These  were  ilio  sacred  characters  of  Egypt,  known  only  to  the  priests,  which  had  been 
introduced    by   the  Cutbite    Ethiopians."  * 

We  infer,  from  the  close  resemblance  between  the  Indian  temples  and  those 
remaining  in  Egypt,  that  the  latter  were  constructed  by  a  branch  of  the  same  family 
which  built  the  former;  and  we  learn  from  the  passages  just  quoted  from  Pliny  and 
Cassiodorus,   that    such   was  the    fact. 

These  Cuthites,  then,  obtained  the  mastery  of  Egypt,  established  a  noble  empire, 
under  the  title  of  —« Oi no/urn,"  —  "the  Shepherd  Kings,"  and  constructed,  as  they  did 
in  Chaldea,  large  cities,  pyramids,  obelisks,  and  other  massive  buildings,  the  remains  of 
which  still  furnish  testimony  to  the  magnificence  and  power  of  the  race.  "The 
Shepherds  are  said  to  have  maintained  themselves  in  this  situation  for  five  hundred  and 
eleven  years.  At  last  the  natives  of  Upper  Egypt  rose  in  opposition  to  them,  and 
defeated  them  under  the  conduct  of  king  Halisphragmuthosis.  They  afterwards  beleaguered 
them  in  their  stronghold,  Avaris,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  walled  province,  containing 
no  less  than  ten  thousand  square  Arource.  Here  they  maintained  themselves  for  a  long 
space;  but  at  last,  under  Thummosis,  the  son  of  the  former  king,  they  were  reduced  to  such 
straits  as  to  be  glad  to  leave  the  country."  f  "Wearied  out  by  the  length  and 
siraitness  of  the  siege,  they  at  last  came  to  terms  of  composition,  and  agreed  to  leave 
the  country,  if  they  might  do  it  unmolested.  They  were  permitted  to  depart,  and 
accordingly  retired,  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  persons. 
Amosis,   upon    this,   destroyed    their   fortifications,    and   laid   their   city    in   ruins."  J 

Early  writers  notice  the  journoyings  of  this  banished  race  in  a  northeasterly  direction 
as  far  as  Palestine.  Here  all  historical  traces  are  lost  of  them,  and  their  name  is 
buried    in    oblivion. 

To  prevent  any  ambiguity  in  regard  to  this  historical  account  of  the  departure 
of   the    shepherd   Cuthites   from    Egypt,    tho    author   begs    to   indulge   in   a  farther   quotation 

*  Bryant.     Anc.  Myth.  vol.  Ill,  p.  211. 

\  Ibidem.     Vol.  Ill,  p.  237. 

t  Bryant.     Anc.  Myth.  vol.  Ill,  p.  2fi9. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  75 

of  the  history  of  that  country,  but  which,  it  is  conceded,  may  be  thought  episodical 
by  the  reader.  As,  however,  it  leads  to  very  curious  results,  not  entirely  unconnected 
with    the    subject,   it   may  prove  interesting    and    perhaps    novel   to    some    readers. 

There  were  no  less  than  three  exodi  from  Egypt.  The  first  was  the  one  just 
named,  viz:  the  expulsion  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  Cuthites  by  Halisphragmuthosis ; 
this  occurred  about  two  hundred  years  before  the  entrance  of  the  Israelitish  shepherds 
into  Egypt.  The  second  exodus  was  that  of  this  once  holy  people,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Almighty,  through  his  servant  Moses,  the  account  of  which  we  have  in  profane 
history,  substantiated  in  the  minutest  particulars  by  the  sacred  writings  given  us  through 
the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  protected  and  preserved  the  race.  But  the 
third  is  not  so  generally  known.  We  propose  to  give  a  statement  thereof,  and  show 
the  authority  on  which  it  rests.  The  author  deems  it  necessary  this  should  be  kept 
in  view,  in  order  to  prevent  doubt  as  to  the  course  taken  by  the  first  emigrants 
from   Egypt. 

It  is  doubtless  familiar  to  the  reader  that  Cadmus  is  said  to  have  introduced  the 
elements  of  writing  into  Greece;  that  the  very  language  of  that  country,  oral  as  well 
as  scriptural,  owes  its  origin  to  the  ancient  language  of  the  Pelasgic  race;  and  that 
their  mythology  had  its  birth-place  in  Egypt.  A  valuable  work,  investigating  the  traces 
of  the  descendants  of  Japhet,  by  James  Parsons,  M.  D.,  London,  published  in  1767, 
gives  us  much  light  on  this  last  exodus,  and  very  clearly  points  out  the  progress  of 
their  migration  through  Greece,  westward  to  Spain,  and  northward  to  the  mountains  of 
Wales,  and  the  plains  of  Ireland.  The  results  he  has  arrived  at  are  fully  confirmed 
by  comparative  philology,  and  by  a  study  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Druidical 
race. 

We  have  shown  that  one  of  the  "  sons,"  or  descendants  of  Nimrod  [or  "  Belus"] 
was  named  Nilus,  and  from  him  the  river  took  its  appellation.  This  Nilus,  a  direct 
descendant  of  Belus,  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  Finiusa,*  who  was  king  over 
a  band  of  the  Scythians  which  hovered  in  the  vicinity  of  their  ancient  dwelling-places 
in    Shinar.      With    this    monarch,   we    commence    the     narrative    of   the     events    to   which 

*  From  this  prince  the  name  Phoenicia  took  its  rise,  and   his  descendants,  under  the  guidance  of  Cadmus,  were  called 
Phoenicians. 


76  AN   INQUIRY    INTO   THE   ORIGIN 

we  allude.  They  rest  on  tho  authority  of  a  valuable  monument  of  antiquity  called 
''The  Roman  of  Milesivs,"  a  compilation  made,  like  the  Homeric  poems,  by  tho 
filids,  or  bards,  and  which  has,  for  many  years,  been  admitted  as  authority  by  European 
antiquarians. 

"  There  is  something  very  particular  in  this  monarch's  history,  as  delivered  by  these 
filids.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  prince  of  uncommon  genius  for  learning,  applying 
himself  in  a  most  assiduous  manner  to  the  study  of  languages,  and  at  length,  to  have 
made  himself  master  of  many;  for  some  time  before  he  was  established  in  his 
government,  there  arose  a  variety  of  tongues,  from  the  building  of  Babel  by  the  sons 
of  Nimrod;  and  before  this,  that  all  the  then  inhabitants  of  the  earth  spoke  but  one 
language;  and  that  while  they  were  busied  about  this  tower,  in  order  to  preserve 
themselves  from  another  flood,  by  carrying  it  up  higher  than  they  fancied  water  could 
reach,  the  filids  say  that  Heber,  of  the  family  of  Shcm,  admonished  them  against 
such  an  enterprise,  and  refused  joining  in  it:  alleging  that  it  was  a  wicked  attempt, 
and  a  vain  one,  carried  on  in  defiance  of  Heaven,  whose  ordinations  there  was  no 
resisting.  They  were  not  moved  with  his  remonstrance,  but  obstinately  persevered  in 
their  resolution,  when,  in  the  midst  of  it,  a  strange  confusion  in  their  language  broke 
out,  and  frustrated  their  designs.  Heber,  for  his  pious  behavior  on  this  occasion,  had 
his   language    preserved    pure   in    his    family,   say   these    records. 

This  Finiusa,  the  Scythian  monarch,  from  his  desire  to  attain  the  language  of 
Heber,  and  as  many  others  as  he  could,  sent  out  several  learned  men  —  by  some  of 
the  filids,  it  is  said,  seventy-two,  for  so  many  dialects  are  said  to  have  arisen  from 
that  confusion,  in  the  several  countries,  which  were  by  this  time  distinguished  into 
governments  —  in  order  to  learn  their  tongues;  and  they  were  limited  to  seven  years' 
absence,  for  accomplishing  that  noble  design.  In  the  mean  time,  he  resolved  to  go 
himself  into  Machseanair,  (Shinar,)  which  was  not  remote  from  the  place  where  the 
language  of  Shcm's  family  was  in  common  use,  in  order  to  acquire  that.  However, 
he  waited  till  the  return  of  as  many  of  these  missioncrs  as  were  alive,  and  commanded 
them  to  instruct  the  Scythian  youth  in  all  they  had  acquired;  and  then,  having  settled 
the  government  upon  his  eldest  son,  Nvnuall,  he  set  out  upon  his  expedition  from 
Scythia,   and  arrived    safe    at   3Iachseanair,    (Shinar,)  and    there   erected   schools    for   teaching 


OP  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  77 

the  languages  and  other  sciences,  according  to  chronicles  of  very  high  antiquity,  and 
the  assent  of  several  ancient  poets,  or  filids.  When  these  schools  were  established, 
he  called  to  the  professorships  two  able  and  most  learned  men,  to  his  assistance,  and 
invited  the  youth  of  the  neighboring  countries  to  frequent  the  schools  for  instruction. 
The  names  of  these  were  Gadel,  son  of  Eathoir,  of  the  posterity  of  Gomer,  and 
Caoih  Jar,  son  of  Neamha,  the  Hebrew.  Fenius  continued  twenty  years  to  preside 
over  these  seminaries  of  learning,  and  it  appears  that  his  second  son,  Niul,  (Nilus,) 
was  with  him  all  the  time.  Fenius,  after  having  remained  twenty  years  in  Shinar, 
with  his  son,  Niul,  who  by  this  time  grew  famous  in  arts  and  languages,  was  in  such 
high  esteem  with  the  neighboring  nations,  that  they  were  almost  ready  to  pay  him 
divine  honors,  and  returned  to  his  kingdom  and  resumed  the  reins  of  government,  and 
left  the  several  schools  that  he  established  to  the  care  of  able  masters,  under  the 
presidency  of  his  son  Niul;  and  in  some  time  after  he  died,  and  his  son  Nenual 
again   came   to   the    throne. 

But  when  Fenius  returned  to  his  kingdom  from  Shinar,  he  was  accompanied  by  the 
two  great  professors,  whom  he  joined  to  himself  in  the  foundation  of  those  seminaries 
of  learning,  mentioned  before,  Gadel  and  Caoih  Jar;  and  the  first  orders  he  gave 
them  was  to  regulate  the  language,  and  appropriate  out  of  it  different  dialects  to  different 
stations  of  the  several  orders  of  his  subjects,  viz:  to  adapt  particular  expressions  to 
the  soldiery;  others  to  history  and  poetry;  others  to  philosophy  and  medicine;  and  the 
last  was  that  which  was  spoken  universally  by  the  common  people.  And  this  is  the 
language  of  the  native  Irish  to  this  day;  and,  from  the  first  professor,  Gadel,  the 
Gomerian,    it   is   called    Gaoidealg,    or    the   Irish   language. 

Thus    were    seminaries    of    learning    begun    under    Fenius;    and,    in    process   of    time, 

in  imitation   of    these,   others  were   erected,   by   those   who   had    their    education    with    him, 

in   other    nations,    till,   in   time,   Greece    became    famous   for    its   schools,   and    continued    to 

be    the   most    signal    and   eminent    of    any   in    that    part    of  the   world;    and    long   after    this 

time    it    was,    that    the    Greek    tongue,    which,    as    I    have    before    hinted,    was   a   mixture 

of   the    Egyptian   and   Phoenician   with  the   Gomerian,   began   to    be   reduced   to   grammatical 

rules,   as   it   improved. 

We    now    return     to     the    ever    famous    Niul,    whose    fortune    and    transactions    were 

U 


78  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

chequered  with  variety  of  incidents,  and  whoso  fame  for  learning  and  arts  was  equal 
to  his  father's.  Ho  remained  many  years  in  Sliinar,  presiding  over  these  schools, 
and  engrossed  so  mneh  of  the  esteem  of  the  people  that  he  grew  very  powerful,  and 
was  looked  upon  as  a  law-giver,  mid  commander  of  their  wills.  He  could  have 
improved  this  to  his  own  advantage,  if  he  pleased;  hut  he  chose  to  reiurn  to  Scythia, 
where  he  stayed  at  the  court  of  his  brother  Ncnual,  and  there  made  it  his  sole 
business,  according  to  the  bent  of  his  own  tasle,  to  inspect  and  improve  the  schools 
which  his  lather  had  established.  Some  years  passed  in  this  manner,  when,  having  a 
mind  to  visit  his  schools  in  Shinar  again,  he  departed  from  Scythia,  and  never  more 
returned;  and  was  no  sooner  arrived  than  there  were  great  rejoicings  made,  and  the 
report    spread    every   where,   even    to   the    court   of    Pharaoh. 

This  monarch  invited  Niul  to  come  into  Egypt,  being  desirous  a  prince  of  his 
character  should  reside  in  his  kingdom,  for  the  benefit  and  improvement  of  his  people; 
and  being,  in  some  time,  highly  pleased  with  his  conduct  and  great  knowledge,  and 
also  knowing  him  to  be  a  descendant  from  a  royal  line  of  ancestors,  he  gave  him 
his  daughter  Scota  in  marriage,  and  settled  him  in  a  territory  along  the  coast  of  the 
Red  Sea,  called  Capacirunt,  where  he  flourished,  and  promoted  learning  through  all 
his  dominion.  Scota  bore  him  a  son,  whom  his  father  Niul  called  Gaodhal,  or 
Gadclas. 

It  was  at  this  very  time  tiiat  the  great  event  of  the  exodus  of  the  children  of 
Israel  happened;  and  accordingly,  the  filids  and  poets  all  agree  that  when  Moses  had 
made  his  encampment  near  the  Red  Sea,  Niul  was  alarmed  at  the  approach  of  so 
great  a  body  of  people,  and  took  proper  measures  to  inform  himself  of  their  affairs. 
They  also  say  that  he  had  an  interview  with  Aaron,  who  informed  him  that  these 
were  the  people  whom  his  father-in-law,  Pharaoh  Cingeris,  had  in  bondage  for  so  long 
a  time;  and  that  now  the  God  whom  they  worshiped  was  miraculously  working  their 
deliverance.  Niul  was  affected  at  what  he  had  heard,  and  favored  their  escape  as 
much  as  he  could,  offering  them  every  accommodation  in  his  power;  which  is,  in  some 
measure,  a  proof  that  Niul  was  no  favorer  of  idolatry,  but  was  a  worshipper  of  the 
true    God. 

They   also   say   that  Niul,  not   knowing  what   was    to   happen   to    the    host   of  Pharaoh, 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  79 

was  under  some  apprehensions  of  resentment  from  him,  fbr  having  favored  this  people, 
whom  Pharaoh  accounted  no  better  than  slaves,  and  now  in  an  act  of  rebellion,  in 
their  flight,  and  accordingly  communicated  his  fears  to  Moses;  that  Moses  offered  him 
and  his  people  a  settlement  in  the  land  to  which  he  was  leading  his  followers,  if  he 
was  in  any  fear;  but,  say  they,  he  did  not  comply  with  this,  choosing  rather  to  be 
secured  some  other  way;  and  that  therefore  Moses  advised  him  to  seize  upon  some 
Egyptian  ships  that  were  upon  his  coasts,  and  go  on  board,  with  the  principal  persons 
of  his  family,  and  stand  out  to  sea,  till  it  should  be  known  what  was  to  be  the 
fate  of  the  Egyptians;  which  he  accordingly  did,  on  the  day  before  they  were 
overwhelmed    in   the    sea. 

When  Niul  was  informed  of  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptians,  he  landed  and 
returned  home,  and  had  several  children,  who  grew  to  manhood  before  he  died,  and 
left  behind  him,  all  over  the  neighboring  countries,  the  character  of  one  of  the  most 
valiant,  most  learned  and  wise  of  princes;  when  his  eldest  son,  Gadelas,  with  his 
mother,  Scota,  assumed  the  government  of  their  territory  with  great  harmony  and 
unanimity. 

Gadelas  had  a  son,  who  reigned  after  him,  called  Easru;  and  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  whom  he  named  Sru;  and  this  was  the  prince  who  was  driven  out  of  Egypt, 
which  several  authors  testify;  for  when,  by  the  wisdom  of  his  grandfather,  Gadelas,  and 
of  Easru,  his  father,  the  nation  grew  great  and  much  increased,  as  well  as  renowned 
for  learning,  one  of  the  successors  of  Pharaoh  Cingeris,  it  is  uncertain  which  of  them, 
meditated  a  quarrel  with  Sru,  under  pretence  of  revenging  the  favor  that  Niul  had 
formerly  showed  the  Israelites,  in  their  approach  to  the  Red  Sea;  and  accordingly  he 
raised  a  powerful  army,  and  entered  his  country  with  all  the  terrors  of  war,  and 
forced    Sru,    with    his   whole    family,    and    a    great    many   followers,    to   fly. 

Walsingham,  I  am  informed,  in  his  Hypodigma,  asserts  that  '  when  the  Egyptians 
were  drowned  in  the  Red  Sea,  those  that  remained  drove  out  a  Scythian  prince,  who 
resided  among  them,  lest  he  should  take  an  advantage,  and  attempt  to  seize  the 
government;  and  when  he  was  expelled  the  country,  with  his  followers,  he  came  to 
Spain,  where  he  and  his  people  lived  many  years,  and  became  too  numerous,  and  from 
thence   they   came    to   Ireland.' 


80  AN    I.YQriRY    INTO   THE   ORIGIN 

The  words  of  Walsingham  are  said  to  bo  these,  and  aro  indeed  very  remarkable: 
'Efyptiis  in  Mari  Rubro  submcrsis,  illi  qui  supcrfucrunt  cxpulerunt  a  se  quondam 
nobilem  Scythicum  qui  degebat  apud  cos,  nc  dominium  super  cos  invadcrct;  cxpulsus 
ille  cum  familia,  pcrvenit  ad  Hispaniam,  ubi  ct  habitant  annis  multis,  et  progenies  ipsius 
familkc   multac  multiplicata   est   nimis;   et   indc   venerunt   in    Hiberniam.'  "  * 

This  emigration,  it  is  generally  believed,  commenced  by  a  voyage  across  the 
Mediterranean  to  Crete,  whence  they  traveled  westward.  From  the  combination  of 
incidents  noticeable  throughout  the  history  just  related,  viz:  that  at  about  the  time  fixed 
by  Grecian  chronology,  a  race  headed  by  the  descendant  of  the  founder  of  the 
Phoenician  race,  should  arrive  at  Crete,  expert  in  the  learning  of  Scythia  and  Egypt, 
and  of  course  bringing  with  them  the  rudiments  of  scriptural  language:  we  have  some 
ground  for  believing  that  we  may  herein  recognise  the  migration  of  Cadmus,  and  his 
introduction  of  alphabetical  characters.  Still  farther  may  this  afford  a  matter  of  interesting 
investigation  for  future  research,  when  the  study  of  comparative  philology  has  declared 
most  carious  analogies  between  the  Basque,  the  Erse,  Gomcric,  and  Coptic  languages, 
both  in  lexical  comparison,  as  also  in  grammatical  idiom  a  fact,  not  to  be  accounted 
for  unless  in  this  manner,  and  which  seems  to  be  rendered  still  more  probable  by  the 
antiquities  yet  presented  in  the  countries  to  which  this  race  is  said  to  have  finally 
gone  —  witness  the  tumuli  and  barrows  found  along  the  plains  of  Bulgaria,  westward  to 
Spain,  and  northward  to  the  British  Isles,  the  Druidical  remains  of  Stone  Henge,  and 
other  places,  and  some  very  curious  analogies  in  the  Druidical  mythology  and  customs, 
as  illustrated  by  Mr.  Edmond  Maurice,  and  which  he  proves  to  have  emanated  from 
Scythia  through  Egypt.  For  a  more  full  and  satisfactory  examination  of  these  points, 
the  author  begs  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  able  works  alluded  to,  as  here  the 
results    only    can   be    given. 

From  what  has  here  been  related,  then,  it  is  thought  that  little  or  no  doubt  can  arise 
as  to  the  destination  of  the  three  expelled  races,  on  their  departure  from  Egypt:  Tlie  first, 
in  a  north-easterly  direction,  through  Palestine;  the  second,  under  Jehovah's  guidance, 
into    the    land   of   Canaan;    and    the    third,    through    Greece,    westwardly    through    Europe, 

*  Remains  of  Japhct,  pp.  115  a  123. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  81 

to  their  final  destination  in  Great  Britain.  Here,  then,  we  return  to  the  subject  matter 
of  our  investigation,  viz:  the  progress  of  this  first  migratory  race  of  Cuthite  "shepherds," 
after  they  journeyed    from   Egypt    to   Palestine. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  study,  much  difficulty  arises  from  the  ambiguity  of 
every  author  as  to  the  residence  of  the  family  called  "Scythian."  Mr.  Bryant  has 
satisfactorily  established  the  origin  of  the  name,  and  accounted  for  the  multiplicity  of 
localities  denominated  Scythia;  for,  wherever  this  family  conquered  a  country,  they 
called  it  in  general  terms  Cuthia,  or  Scythia,  to  promote  a  remembrance  of  their 
power  and  greatness.  In  early  days  all  south-western  Asia  was  comprehended  under 
the  name  of  Scythia.  But  as  the  Cuthites  became  vanquished,  and  in  their  turn  met 
the  reverses  of  fortune,  by  becoming  scattered  over  the  earth,  the  original  name, 
Scythia,  was  subsequently  applied  by  writers  to  different  countries.  When  in  process 
of  time,  Greece  was  in  her  high  estate  of  power,  learning,  and  refinement,  her 
geographers  meant  by  Scythia,  all  the  country  north  of  Thrace  and  Macedonia;  for 
the  original  home  of  the  Scythians  had  taken  the  name  of  Babylonia:  Shinar  had 
become  again  Assyria:  Chusistan  retained  its  name:  and  Egypt  retained  the  original 
appellation  of  Chamia,  or  Mesora.  As  they  met  their  destiny  in  banishment,  even 
their  name  gradually  became  extinct.  The  traces  of  this  banished  race  became 
unknown,  and  it  may  be  believed  that  from  the  supposition  they  had  gone  north,  the 
Greeks  gave  the  name  "  Scythia "  to  that  remote,  and  to  them,  unknown  country, 
whither  it  was  supposed  they  had  retired,  although  that  country  was  allotted  to  the 
descendants    of   Japhet,    and    was    by    them    inhabited. 

It  will  be  recollected  by  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  works  of  Sir  William 
Jones,  that  he  invariably  calls  this  band  of  Cuthites,  "  the  old  Persians,"  from  the 
fact,  that  their  original  home  is  now  the  Persian  Empire:  and  by  the  name  "Scythians," 
he  does  not  allude  to  the  race  of  which  we  have  been  writing,  but  that  family  which 
received  their  title  from  the  Greeks;  whose  residence  comprehended  Russia,  Poland, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Germany;  and  who  were  descendants  of  Japhet.  "These 
descendants  of  Gog  and  his  brothers,"  says  Dr.  Parsons,  "were  the  people,  who,  in 
after    ages,     had    the    appellation    of   Scythians,    as    it    is    agreed    on    by   many   authors   of 

V 


82  AN   INQUIRY    INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

authority,  as  Joscphus,  Jerome,  and  most  of  the  Fathers*  With  this  view  of  the 
truth,  may  wo  not  detect  the  continued  joumcyings  of  tho  banished  shepherds,  i:i  their 
polemic    migration,    by   a   reference    to    the    following    quotation,    viz: 

"The  only  great  monuments  of  Tartarian  antiquity,  are  a  line  of  ramparts  on 
the  west  and  cast  of  the  Caspian,  ascribed,  indeed,  by  ignorant  Musselmen  to  Yajug 
and  Majug,  or  Gog  and  Magog,  that  is,  to  the  Scythians,"  [the  descendants  of  Japhet,] 
"  but  manifestly  raised  by  a  very  different  nation,  to  stop  their  predatory  inroads  through 
the  passes  of  Caucasus.  The  Chinese  wall  was  built  and  finished  on  a  similar 
construction,  and  for  a  similar  purpose,  by  an  Emperor  who  died  only  two  hundred 
and  ten  years  before  our  era:  and  the  other  mounds  were  very  probably  constructed 
by  the  old  Persians,"  [the  descendants  of  Cush,]  "  though  like  many  works  of  unknown 
origin,  they  aro  given  to  Secander,  not  the  Macedonian,  but  a  more  ancient  hero, 
supposed  by  some  to  have  been  Jemshid.  It  is  related  that  pyramids  and  tombs  have 
been  found  in  Sataristan,  or  western  Scythia,  and  some  remnants  of  edifices  in  the 
lake  Saisan;  that  vestiges  of  a  deserted  city  have  been  recently  discovered  by  the 
Russians,  near  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  the  Mountain  of  Eagles;  and  that  golden 
ornaments  and  utensils,  figures  of  elks  and  other  quadrupeds,  in  metal,  weapons  of 
various  kinds,  and  even  implements  for  mining,  but  made  of  copper  instead  of  iron, 
have  been  dug  up  in  the  country  of  the  Tohudes;  whence,  M.  Bailly  infers,  with  great 
reason,  the  high  antiquity  of  that  people;  but  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Tartars,  and 
their    establishment    in    that    country    near    four    thousand    years   ago,    no    man  disputes."! 

In  order  to  establish,  however,  with  greater  satisfaction  to  the  reader,  that  these 
works  were  constructed  by  the  banished  shepherds,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  introduce 
a  quotation  from  another  work  of  undoubted  authority.  Alluding  to  the  mountains  of 
Caucasus,    Captain    Wilford    remarks: 

"  The  true  Sanscrit  name  of  this  mountain  is  C'hasa-giri,  or  '  the  mountain  of 
the  Chasas,''  a  most  ancient  and  powerful  trihe,  who  inhabited  this  immense  range, 
from    the    eastern    limits    of   India    to    the    confines   of   Persia;    and   most    probably    as    far 


•  Remains  of  Japhet,   p.  39. 
t  Sir  Win.  Jones's  works. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  83 

as  the  Euxine  and  Mediterranean  Seas.  They  are  often  mentioned  in  the  sacred  books 
of  the  Hindus.  They  are  certainly  a  very  ancient  tribe;  for  they  are  mentioned  as 
such  in  the  Institutes  of  Menu;  and  their  great  ancestor,  Chasa,  or  Chasya,  [Chus 
or  Cush,]  is  mentioned  by  Sanchoniathon  under  the  name  of  Cassius.  Pliny  (lib.  vi. 
chap.  30,)  informs  us  that  mount  Caucasus  was  also  called  Graucasus;  an  appellation 
obviously  Sanscrit;  for  Grava,  which,  in  conversation,  as  well  as  in  the  spoken  dialects, 
is  invariably  pronounced  Grau,  signifies  "  a  mountain,"  and  being  a  monosyllable  (the 
final  being  surd,)  according  to  the  rules  of  grammar,  it  is  to  be  prefixed  thus, 
Grava-CJiasa,  or  Grau-Chasa.  The  words  Chasu  or  Chasa  are  pronounced  Chasa 
or  Cos,  Chusa,  or  Cusa,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  countries  between  Bahlac  and 
the    Indus."* 

Here,    then,    is    testimony    showing    the    descendants    of   Cush    to   have    immigrated    to 
the    very    spot    where,    from    the    testimony    of    Sir    William     Jones,     these    ramparts    are 
discovered;    and    also    proving    the    range    of  mountains    to    have   derived    their   name   from 
this    same    family,    Grau-Chasa    "  the    mountain    of   the    Chasas,    or    sons   of  Chus."      An 
additional    reason    for    believing    it    to    be    the    same    family   is    the    fact,    that   the   remains 
yet     to    be    found     there,     are     tumuli,     pyramidical     edifices,     and     mural     defences.       So 
far    as    we    can    learn,    this    was    the    only    race    on    record,    which    at   that    early    period 
knew    any    thing    about    castrametation    or    fortification.       The     other    nations     of   that     age 
were    peaceful,     and    pastoral    in    their    habits.      Their    flocks     and    herds,     and    increasing 
posterity,    occupied     their    sole    attention,    save     the     time    they    devoted     to     the    duties    of 
religion.       Witness    the    simplicity     of    life     narrated     in    the     earliest     book     extant;     the 
chronicle    of  Job;     the    Idumean   patriarch.      He    affords   us   a  fair    picture    of   the    man   of 
that    age    of   the    world  —  peaceful    and    pastoral,     and    skilled    in    lore,    not     only    of   this, 
but    of   a    better    world.       Who     are     represented    as    the     invaders    of    his    happiness     by 
driving    off   his    herds,    &c?       It    is    the    very    family   of   whom    we    speak,    the    Chusdim, 
or  Chaldeans.     The  learned   Dr.   Hales    has   proved   astronomically,    and   Bishop   Warburton, 
and    Michaelis    critically,    that     this    patriarch    endured     the     trial    recorded    of    him,    eight 
hundred    and    eighteen    years    after    the    deluge,    and    four   hundred   and   seventy   four  years 

*  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  vi.  p.  455.  R     Calmet  Diet.  Art.  "Caucasus," 


81  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE   ORIGIN 

before  the  settlement  of  Jacob's  family  in  Egypt*  It  must  have  been  then  one  of 
the  bands  of  Cuthites,  on  their  march  from  Shinar  through  Idumea  into  the  land  of 
Mizraim,  who  so  cruelly  misused  this  holy  man.  But  to  return.  It  will  be  recollected 
that  all  the  families  of  man  had  places  of  residence  assigned  to  them  by  the 
Almighty,  and  to  these  they  had  retired  in  the  days  of  Peleg,  for  in  his  time  we 
are  informed  the  division  of  the  earth  was  made,  and  apportioned  by  Jehovah.  It 
will  farther  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  were  obedient  and  retired  to  their  allotted 
dwelling  places,  except  this  family  of  Chus,  who  seized  first  on  the  kingdom  of  Assur, 
or  Assyria;  then  on  Elam  or  Persia,  to  which  they  gave  their  own  name  "Chus-istan;" 
then  on  Hindostan;  while  others  of  the  family  went  westward,  and  made  themselves 
masters  successively  of  Idumea,  and  the  country  of  the  Mizraim,  or  Egypt.  In  short 
they  were  a  race,  hostile  to  every  other,  and  disposed  to  exercise  their  knowledge 
and  power  in  acts  of  tyranny  over  their  weaker  brethren.  But  the  Almighty  reserved 
for  them  ■  severe  retribution,  and  their  subsequent  history,  as  we  can  faintly  trace  it 
to  the  present  day,  has  been  a  series  of  reverses,  necessarily  consequent,  as  it  appears, 
on  the  commission  of  their  original  error.  Their  first  reverse  was  the  dispersion  of 
the  race  at  Babel;  next,  their  expulsion  from  Egypt.  Now  it  must  be  apparent,  that 
any  migration  of  this  race  (no  matter  what  direction  they  might  choose,)  must  be  made 
through  hostile  families;  through  nations  on  whose  rights  they  had  trampled  when  in 
power.  Their  migration  then  must  necessarily  have  been  polemic.  We  know  them 
to  have  been  skilful  in  erecting  mural  defences.  Where,  then,  we  trace  these  defences, 
in  the  remains  of  ramparts,  walls,  &,c,  we  may  consider  ourselves,  with  no  small 
degree  of  certainty,  on  the  correct  track  of  this  exiled  race;  and  having  discovered 
these  ramparts  as  far  north  as  the  Caucasian  mountains,  the  very  name  of  which 
confirms    the    fact,    we    deem    ourselves    safe    in    tracing    them    thus    far. 

It  will  be  recollected  perhaps,  that  in  the  argument  exhibiting  the  anatomical  analogy 
between  the  aboriginal  race  of  America,  and  that  of  Southern  Asia,  a  close  affinity 
was  remarked  between  the  characteristic  traits  of  the  North  American  Indian,  and  the 
Mongol    or    Tartar    race,    in    their    nomadic   life,    and   their    rejection    of   civilization.      We 

*  Home's  Introduct.  to  Crit.  Study  of  Holy  Scrip,  vol.  iv.  p.  74. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  85 

find   in   North   America,    tumuli,    ramparts,    &c,     which    the    Indians   know   nothing   about; 

and    from    what    has    thus    far    been    shown,     these    works    prove    to    be    the    remains    of 

some    other,    and    a    more    civilized    race.      The    Mongolian    family    are    equally    rude    with 

the     Indian,     and    as    little   disposed   to    exert   a   talent   for   mechanical   ingenuity.       If   then 

we    find     in     Tartary    and     Siberia     monuments,     like     the     American,     displaying     industry, 

and    talent,    unknown    to    and    unpractised    by   those   nations,    we    must   necessarily    conclude 

they    are    the    works    of    some    ancient    and    great    people    once     occupying     the    land     so 

enriched     by    the     remnants     of    former     greatness     and     power.       That    these     exist    it    is 

proposed    to    show: 

"In    Siberia,    the    southern    frontier    mountains,    from    the    Tobol    to    the    Jenesai,    and 

the    steppes    in    the    middle    regions    of   the    Lena,    have    been   inhabited    by   the    Mongol 

Tartars:     and    particularly    in    the    governments    of    Ufa,    Kazan,    and    Tobolsk.       Frequent 

memorials     are    found    there    of    ancient    grandeur,     magnificence,     and    culture;     of    which 

some    are    of   an    antiquity    demonstrably    of   above    a    thousand    years. 

"It    is    no    rare    thing    to   come    suddenly    upon   the    ruins    of  some   town,    which,    in 

its    crumbling    remains,    plainly    evinces    the     progress    which    the    arts     had     made.      Still 

more    frequently     are     seen      sepulchres,      which,     by    their     inscriptions,     throw    light    on 

the     history     of    this    nation;     and,     in    the     vessels    and     implements     preserved    in    them, 

supply    us    with    interesting    proofs    of   its    opulence,    its    taste,    and    its    industry. 

"In    the    museum    at    St.    Petersburg,    are    preserved   a   multitude   of  vessels,    diadems, 

weapons,     military    trophies,    ornaments     of    dress,     coins,     &c,     which     have     been     found 

in    the    Tartarian    tombs,     in   Siberia,     and     on     the     Volga.      They    are     of    gold,     silver, 

and    copper. 

"In    the    tombs    of  Siberia,     and    the   deserts    which    border    it    southward,     are    found 

thousands    of    cast    idols     of    gold,    silver,     copper,     tin,     and    brass.       I    have     seen,     says 

Stralenberg,     some,     of    the    finest    gold,     three    inches     long,     in    the     form    of    minotaurs, 

harts,     old     men,     and     other    figures;     all    sorts    of    urns,     trinkets,     scimitars,     medals    of 

gold    and    silver,     chess-boards    and    chess-men    of    gold;    large    golden    plates,    upon    which 

the    dead    bodies    have    been    laid,     (not   unlike     the    Bractei  '  aurei,)     and     clothes    folded 

up,     such    as   the    corpse    is    dressed    in. 

"  Some    of    the    tombs    are    of    earth,     and    raised    as    high    as    houses,     and    in    such 

W 


86  AN    INQUIRY    INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

numbers,  upon  the  plain,  that  at  a  distance,  they  appear  like  a  ridge  of  hills;  some 
are  partly  of  rough  hewn  stones  or  of  free-stone,  oblong  and  triangular;  others  of 
them  are  built  entirely  of  stone.  Colonel  Kanifer  told  me  that  the  ambassadors  of 
the  Chinese  Tartars,  when  passing  the  city  of  Jenesai,  asked  permission  to  visit  the 
tombs  of  their  ancestors,  but  were  refused;  not  improbably,  because  they  would  have 
seen    that    they    were    rifled    and    demolished. 

"  Golden  medals  have  been  dug  out  of  a  tomb  not  far  from  the  Irtish,  between 
the  salt  lake  Jamischewa  and  the  city  Omm,  or  Ommostrock.  About  twenty  or  thirty 
years  ago,  before  the  Czars  of  Russia  were  acquainted  with  these  matters,  the 
governors  of  the  cities  Tara,  Tomskoi,  Crasnoyar,  Batsamki,  Isetskhoe,  and  others, 
used  to  give  leave  to  the  inhabitants  to  go  in  caravans,  to  ransack  the  tombs,  on 
condition  that,  of  whatever  they  should  find  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  jewels,  and  other 
things  of  value,  the  governor  should  have  the  tenth.  These  choice  antiquities  were 
often  broken  and  shared  by  weight.  They  have  dug  for  years,  and  the  treasures  are 
not    exhausted. 

"The  graves  of  the  poorer  sort  have  such  things  of  copper  and  brass:  arrows 
of  copper  and  iron,  stirrups,  large  and  small  polished  plates  of  metal,  or  mirrors, 
with  characters  upon  them.  Urns  are  found  of  different  sizes,  some  almost  two  feet 
high,  and  some  more:  some  with,  and  some  without  handles.  Many  of  these  graves 
are    very    deep."* 

Here,  then,  arc  the  remains  of  an  ancient  family,  whose  descendants  have  left 
the  tombs  of  their  forefathers;  and  which,  deserted  and  a  prey  to  the  cupidity  of 
modern  barbarians,  form  no  unimportant  link  in  the  chain  connecting  the  evidences  of 
the  early  unity  of  the  human  family.  u  They  have  been,  and  are  not,"  is  the  lesson 
they  teach  the  moralist.  The  antiquarian,  however,  derives  an  equally  useful  lesson. 
"They  have  been,"  but  who  were  they,  and  why  did  they  leave  these  sacred  spots, 
consecrated  by  the  resting  places  of  their  departed  friends,  and  doubtless  endeared  by 
bonds  of  no  slender  tie;  if  we  may  form  a  correct  judgment  of  the  resources  and 
and    power    of    the    race,     by   the    vestiges    of    their    grandeur?       We   cannot   well    conceive 

*  Rnnking*s    Conquest  of  Peru.     Notes,  p.  236. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  87 

a  motive  for  the  emigration  of  an  entire  people  from  a  land  of  wealth  and  abundant 
resources,  but  the  compulsion  of  a  superior  power.  Where  in  history  or  tradition  are 
we  to  look  for  the  race  that  built  these  sepulchral  tumuli,  or  for  the  causes  which 
yet  again  expelled  them  thence?  History  points  us  only  to  a  nomadic  race  as  the 
occupants  of  that  land.  Tradition  carries  the  possession  of  this  country  by  the  Tartar 
nation  back  to  the  earliest  days  of  the  peopling  of  the  world.  Yet  we  know  their 
ancestors  built  them  not.  They  can  no  more  account  for  the  origin  of  these  remains, 
than  can  the  North  American  Indian  for  that  of  the  tumuli  of  his  land.  Evidently 
then,  some  roving  family,  possessed  of  learning,  skill  in  architecture,  and  genius  in 
mechanical  avocations,  and  which  must  have  come  from  the  south,  (for  all  knowledge 
originated  there,)  once  entered  and  occupied  this  land.  It  has  been  shown  that 
astronomy,  even  at  that  early  day,  was  well  understood.  The  Chusdim  or  Chaldeans 
established  and  preserved  the  astronomical  and  astrological  learning  of  Egypt.  We  find 
among  the  present  occupants  of  this  country,  the  Siberian  Tartars,  a  zodiac  taken 
from  that  of  Egypt;  and,  as  has  been  noticed  in  page  51,  this  identical  zodiac 
has  been  also  discovered  in  Mexico.  Again,  we  noticed  in  page  60,  a  very  peculiar 
construction  of  bridges,  common  to  this  country  and  to  Mexico.  We  find  too  the 
greatest  mural  defences  in  the  world  in  this  land,  of  which  the  origin  is  unknown: — 
witness    the    celebrated    wall    of   China. 

When,  then,  we  find  history  pointing  us  to  an  exiled  race,  slowly  travelling  in  a 
northwardly  direction,  through  hosts  of  foes,  whose  animosity,  revenge  for  past  tyranny, 
and  a  spirit  of  self-preservation,  would  constantly  drive  them  forward  and  onward:  — 
and  when  we  see  this  race  possessed  of  the  very  genius,  which,  in  no  other  in  those 
days,  produced  a  similar  degree  of  excellence,  enabling  them  to  raise  pyramids, 
and  cities,  and  ramparts  for  protection,  preserving  their  dead  with  scrupulous 
care,  and  interring  with  them  such  animals,  and  relics  as  were  supposed  to  be  of 
use  in  a  future  world: — are  we  not  irresistibly  led  to  the  conclusion,  that  this 
family  arrived  at  this  land,  and  for  a  season  held  dominion  over  it?  Possessed 
as  they  must  have  been  of  great  resources,  they  no  doubt  formed  an  object  of 
envy  and  hatred,  not  only  to  the  tribes  whose  territory  they  were  now  occupying, 
but    to    those    through    whose    country    they    had   fought    their    way.       A    slight    knowledge 


S3  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

then  of  human  nature  must  indicate,  as  very  credible,  the  results  actually  noticed, 
viz:  an  expulsion  of  the  race,  to  yet  more  northern  and  untried  regions.  A  banished 
army  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  persons,  could  not  well  proceed  through 
a  hostile  country,  without  being  compelled  to  obtain  sustenance  by  force.  Skilful  in 
war,  they  erected  ramparts  for  defence,  and  entrenched  themselves  strongly,  until  driven 
by  superior  power  farther  on  their  route.  War  to  them  was  a  common  occurrence. 
Witness  their  character  as  portrayed  by  the  prophet  Habakkuk,  who  probably  alludes 
to    a    portion    of    this    very    family,     in    c.    i,    v.    6  —  11. 

6.  For     lo,     I     raise     up     the     Chaldeans, 
A    bitter     and     a    hasty     nation, 

Which     marches    far    and     wide     in    the     earth, 
To     possess     the     dwellings     which    are    not    theirs. 

7.  They     are     terrible    and     dreadful. 

Their     decrees     and     their    judgments     proceed     only     from     themselves. 

8.  Swifter  than  leopards  are  their  horses, 
And  fiercer  than  the  evening  wolves, 
Their    horsemen     prance     proudly     around, 

And     their     horsemen     shall     come     from     afar,    and     fly, 
Like     the.    eagle     when    he     pounces     on     his     prey. 

9.  They     all     shall     come     for     violence, 

In     troops.       Their     glance     is     ever     forward  ! 
They     gather     captives     like     the    sand ! 

10.  And     they    scoff    at    kings, 

And     princes    are     a    scorn    unto     them. 

They     divide     every    strong     hold; 

They    cast    up     [mounds     of]     earth    and     take    it. 

11.  Then    renews    itself    his    spirit,     and     transgresses,    and    is    guilty, 

For     this     his    power    is    his     God. 
This    warlike     family    probably   resided    some   time    in    this    northern   section    of   Asia, 
for    they    have    left     numerous    vestiges    of    their    residence     there.       Speaking     of    these 
Siberians,    whom    Dr.    Parsons    calls    by    the    very  name    of   "Scythians,"    it    is   recorded 


OP    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  89 

"that    many    nations    of    the    early    Scythians    were    become    examples   to    other   people,  for 
the     purity    of   their    laws,    philosophy,    music,     and    poetry,     as     well    as    a    true     heroic 
spirit.      But    when    their    colonies    were    driven    into    more     remote    parts,    they    forgot,    in 
process    of   time,    every    thing     that    did     not     immediately     regard     their     necessities,    and 
were    therefore    reduced    to     such     a    state     as    we     see    the    North   Americans    are    now 
in,    living    in    tribes    or    nations,    by     hunting     and    cattle,    without    tillage,    or     any     other 
improvement,    or    constant  settlement,    and   making   incursions   upon   one   another   like   them; 
and    this    we    see    is    the    case    at    present,    even    under     the    dominion    of   the    Russians 
and     Tartars,     in     the      remotest     parts     of     those     empires,     which     are     so     extensive, 
notwithstanding     there    are    emperors,    kings,     and     khans    at    their    head     in     several     of 
these     countries."*      It    is    the     opinion    of    the     writer,     that    the     learned     author    from 
whom    this    extract    is    made,    has   confounded    the   ancient  heroic    Chaldean  race,    formerly 
dwelling    in    this    country,     with     the     Mongol    race     who    subsequently    occupied     Siberia, 
and     who,     with     the     northern     Europeans     indiscriminately,      obtained     the      name     of 
"Scythians"    from    the    Greeks.      For    he     speaks    of   the    earliest    inhabitants    as    learned 
and    heroic,    but    "  when    their    colonies    were   driven   into    more    remote   parts,"     or    in 
more     correct    words,     when     this     learned     and     heroic     Scythian     band     was     expelled, 
the    Mongolian    family    who    ejected    them,    attended     to    nought    but    what     regarded    their 
necessities,    and     closely    correspond    to    the     North     American     Indian,     who     indeed    has 
been    shown    in    page    27,    to    be     of   this    same    family.       This,     however,     is   still   more 
clearly    illustrated    by    a  reference     to    the    writings    of    Herodotus,    who    is    very    foil     in 
his    accounts    of    the     customs     of   some    of    the    Scythians,     [by    whom     he     means     the 
Tartars    or    Mongol    race.]       He    tells    us,    that    in     order    to     initiate    their    young    men, 
and    women    in    the    feats    of   war,    they  ■  never     suffered    the    former     to     be     present     at 
feasts    or    councils,    till    they    had    killed    at    least    one    enemy;    nor    the    latter    to    marry, 
till    they    had    done    the    same    respectively;     and    the    custom     was,     to     bring    the    heads 
of   such    as    they    slew    to    their    chief,    which     in     proportion     to     the    number,    increased 
the    honor    and    character    of   the    person.      He    also    goes     so     far    as    to    say    they    used 
to    drink    some    of    the    blood     of    the    first    prisoner    they    subdued;    and    that    they    often 

*  Remains  of  Japhet,  p.  63.  X 


90  AN   INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

took  off  the  skins  of  the  slain,  and  dressed  them.  Alluding  to  this  nation  of  Tartars 
and  (heir  habits,  "  This,"  says  Dr.  Parsons,  "  and  several  others  of  their  customs, 
would  almost  persuade  ono  to  believe  the  North  Americans  were  a  people  of  the 
Scythian,  [Mongolian,]  race;  because,  as  war  was  the  chief  concern  of  these  herds 
of  Scythians,  [Mongolians,]  and  is  so  even  to  this  day,  so  it  is  now  of  the 
North  Americans;  and  a  conformity  of  manners  and  customs  in  the  principal  objects 
of  different  nations,  would  encourage  such  an  opinion;  for  what  is  more  conformable 
to  the  Scythian  [Mongolian]  custom  of  bringing  the  heads  or  skins  of  enemies  to 
their  chiefs,  than  that  of  the  North  American  Indians  bringing  the  sedps  of  their 
enemies  to  theirs;  and  pluming  themselves  with  the  number  of  scalps  they  cut  off, 
sometimes  wearing  them  as  ornamental  trophies  of  honor,  and  sometimes  hanging  them 
up,  in  view,  in  their  huts,  in  order  to  engross  the  esteem  of  their  brethren  and 
neighbors.  And,  indeed,  one  might  very  naturally  suppose,  that  the  first  custom  among 
the  Americans  was  to  bring  the  heads  of  their  enemies,  as  tokens  of  their  bravery; 
but  that  when  they  went  pretty  long  journeys,  which  they  often  do,  to  invade  their 
enemies,  they  found  it  too  troublesome  to  carry  the  heads,  and  therefore  thought  the 
scalps  of  as  many  as  they  killed,  as  sufficient  a  testimony  of  their  services,  as  if 
they    had    brought    the    entire    heads."  * 

Let  it  be  distinctly  remembered,  that  Siberia  and  Russia  were  not  called 
"Scythian"  until  the  Greeks  gave  them  the  appellation,  in  consequence  of  the  northern 
emigration  of  the  true  family  of  Cush,  and  these  countries  subsequently  retained  the 
name,  although  conquered  by  the  Mongolians,  and  inhabited  by  them.  Herodotus  has 
reference  to  this  Tartar  nation,  and  Dr.  Parsons  in  the  extract  just  quoted,  distinctly 
asserts    that    it    is    to    them    he    alludes. 

Now  we  clearly  trace  this  Mongolian  family  in  the  lineaments,  language,  and 
manners  and  customs  of  the  North  American  Indians.  They  must  have  passed  from 
one    continent    to    the    other. 

From  the  analogies  comprised  in  the  early  portion  of  this  work,  we  also  clearly  see 
that     some     ancient    race     came     from     the     southern     parts     of    Asia;    and,    wandering 

*  Remains  of  Japhet,  p.  64. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  91 

southwardly  through  America,  resumed  their  ancient  customs,  preserved  in  some  degree 
their  language,  built  ramparts,  pyramids  and  cities  as  of  old,  and  established  their 
primitive  systems  of  mythology  and  astronomy.  History,  too,  points  out  clearly  the 
emigration  from  Babylon  to  Egypt,  Egypt  to  Caucasus,  and  Caucasus  to  Siberia,  of 
a  learned,  warlike,  and  great  nation.  We  also  know  they  were  driven  hence,  but 
here  we  lose  all  traces  of  them,  and  their  only  vestiges  are  the  walls,  and 
ramparts,  tumuli,  and  medals,  yet  discoverable  in  the  latter  country,  where,  since 
their  time,  a  nomadic  race,  and  one  partaking  in  no  degree  of  the  excellence  of 
that  driven  away,  has  held  dominion.  From  the  analogical  evidence  alluded  to, 
there  is  some  probability  they  went  to  America  from  Siberia,  and  founded  the  civilized 
empire  there  discovered.  It  is  deserving  of  inquiry,  whether  this  probability  can  be 
made  a  matter  of  certainty.  In  order  to  do  this  satisfactorily,  it  were  well  first 
distinctly  to  understand  the  position,  and  distance  of  that  very  narrow  passage  of 
water,     dividing    Asia    from    America,     usually    known    as    Behring's    Straits. 

In  A.  D.  1761,  T.  Jefferies  published  an  account,  by  a  Mr.  Muller,  of 
"  Voyages  from  Asia  to  America,  for  compleating  the  discoveries  of  the  northwest  coast 
of  America,"  and  a  summary  of  "  Voyages  made  by  the  Russians  on  the  Frozen 
Sea,  in  search  of  a  northeast  passage."  These  state  distinctly,  "that  there  is  a  real 
separation  between  Asia  and  America;  that  it  consists  only  in  a  narrow  strait  and 
that  within  this  strait  one,  or  more,  islands  are  situated;  by  which  the  passage 
from  one  of  these  parts  of  the  world  to  the  other  is  facilitated.  From  ancient  times 
the    inhabitants    of    each    of    these    parts     of    the    world     had    knowledge     of    each    other." 

From  "  The  Encyclopaedia  of  Geography,"  a  valuable  work  recently  published, 
edited  by  Hugh  Murray,  is  quoted  the  following  description  of  this  celebrated  passage 
of  water:  "The  shore  continues  low,  flat,  and  well-peopled,  till  its  westerly  direction 
terminates  at  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  a  lofty  peaked  hill,  forming  the  western  limit 
of  America,  and  which  is  separated  by  Behring's  Strait,  fifty-two  miles  broad,  from 
the  Eastern  Cape  of  Asia,  a  bold  mountainous  promontory,  covered  with  snow  in 
the  midst  of  summer.  The  navigator  who  sails  through  the  middle  of  the  strait  can 
distinctly  view  at  once  these  grand  boundaries  of  the  two  continents.  Beyond  Cape 
Prince    of   Wales,    the    American    coast  stretches    south     by   east    in    an   almost     continued 


92  AN   INQUIRY    INTO   THE   ORIGIN 

* 

line,  broken  only  by  the  deep  inlets  of  Norton  Sound  and  Bristol  Bay.  It  then 
shoots  out  into  the  long  narrow  promontory  of  Alashka,  which  reaches  westward 
almost  as  far  as  Capo  Prince  of  Wales,  beyond  which  the  coast  bends  very  rapidly 
to  the  eastward.  This  region,  which  has  been  very  imperfectly  explored,  is  diversified 
by  hills  of  moderate  elevation,  interspersed  by  valleys,  which  in  summer  display  a 
rich  verdure.  It  is  occupied  by  tho  Tchulchi  and  by  tribes  called  the  Kitegnes  and 
the  Konaigucs.  The  Russians  have  a  small  fort,  called  Alcxandrovskaia,  in  the 
interior  of  Bristol  Bay.  The  peninsula  of  Alashka  is  traversed  by  two  lofty 
mountains,  one  of  which  is  volcanic.  Near  the  American  coast,  and  considered  till 
lately  as  forming  part  of  it,  is  Nunivak,  a  considerable  island;  while  westward  from 
Norton  Sound,  and  belonging  rather  to  Asia,  is  the  larger  one  called  St.  Lawrence, 
or  Gierke.  Both  are  inhabited,  but  only  by  native  tribes.  In  the  Sea  of  Bchring  are 
three  smaller  islands,  St.  Paul,  St.  George,  and  Sea  Otter,  on  the  first  two  of 
which  the  Russians  have  formed  fishing  establishments.  Even  in  the  centre  of  tho 
strait  are  found  three  islets,  called,  by  Bccchey,  Ratmanoff,  Kruscnstera,  and  Fairway, 
the    last    on    account    of    the    safe    passage   afforded    between    it    and   the    American  coast."* 

The  practicability  then  of  a  passage  across  these  straits  is  made  certain.  They 
are  only  fifty-two  miles  across,  and  that  distance  is  divided  by  three  islands.  To 
establish,  then,  the  probability  that  emigration  followed  this  route,  the  following 
considerations    are    worthy    of    attention: 

"  But,  to  pursue  our  account  of  some  particular  customs,  common  to  the  Western 
Americans,  and  the  people  in  North-eastern  Tartary,  let  us  see  what  some  of  Captain 
Bearing's  people  found,  who  were  sent  on  shore,  when  he  discovered  the  American 
coasts.  Chitrow,  a  master  in  his  fleet,  commanded  those  who  were  sent  off;  and  he 
went  among  some  small  islands,  near  the  continent,  and  in  one  of  them  found  some 
empty  huts,  (Voyages  from  Asia  to  America,  page  12,  by  Muller;)  and  it  was 
supposed,  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent  used  to  come  thither,  on  account  of  the 
fishery.  These  huts  were  found  of  smooth  hoards,  in  some  places  carved,  whence  it 
may  bo  concluded,  says  Muller,  that  the  inhabitants  arc  not  quite  so  wild  and 
uncivilized,     as    those    in    North    America    are    generally    described    to    be. 

*  Encyclopedia  of  Geography,  vol.  iii.  p.  344. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  93 

He  found,  in  a  hut,  a  small  box  of  poplar;  a  hollow  earthen  ball,  in  which  a 
stone  rattled,  like  a  toy  for  children,  and  a  whetstone,  on  which  it  appeared  that 
copper  knives  had  been  sharpened.  Now,  even  in  Siberia,  in  the  uppermost  parts 
on  the  river  Janisei,  all  sorts  of  edge  tools  of  copper  have  been  found  in  the 
ancient  pagan  graves,  and  none  of  iron;  which  is  a  proof,,  that  the  use  of  copper 
has    been    of   greater    antiquity,    in    those    regions,    than    that    of    iron. 

Mr.  Steller,  who  accompanied  that  expedition,  went  on  shore  with  them;  and  he 
employed  himself  chiefly  in  gathering  plants,  of  which  he  brought  so  great  a  quantity 
on  board  ship,  that  it  took  him  a  considerable  time  afterwards  to  describe  them. 
His  whole  stay  there  was  not  above  six  hours;  for,  as  soon  as  they  had  taken  in 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  water,  he  was,  with  great  reluctance,  obliged  to  go  on  board 
again.  Afterwards,  his  descriptions  of  these  plants  were  inserted,  by  Professor  Gmelin, 
in  the  Flora  Siberia.  Besides  the  plants,  Steller  observed  some  other  things,  which 
are  very  worthy  of  being  known:  he  met  with  a  cellar,  and  in  it  a  store  of  red 
salmon,  and  some  of  the  herb  spondilium,  which  was  dressed  for  food,  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  Kamptschatka;  there  were  also  ropes,  and  all  sorts  of  household 
furniture;  he  came  to  a  place  where  the  Americans  had  just  before  dined,  but  who, 
on  sight  of  him,  ran  away.  He  found  also  an  arrow,  and  a  wooden  instrument  to 
procure  fire,  made  in  the  same  manner  as  they  have  them  at  Kamptschatka;  which 
consists  of  a  board  with  several  holes  in  it,  and  a  stick ;  the  one  end  of  which 
is  put  into  a  hole,  and  turned  swiftly  about,  between  the  hands,  till  the  wood  within 
the  hole  begins  to  burn;  when  they  have  tinder  ready,  which  they  light,  and  so 
make    fires    when    they    think    proper. 

Van    Strahlenberg,     where    he   mentions    Kamptschatka,    thinks   there   are    many   reasons 

for    believing    this    country    was    formerly    contiguous    to    North    America      and    that,    even 

to    this    day,    there    remains     a    communication,     by    means     of    a    chain     of    islands:     his 

motives    for    this    notion    of   a    contiguity,     I    cannot    comprehend;     but    it     is     plain,     that 

he    was    not    well    acquainted    "with    the    true    situation    of   those    places,    however    accurate 

he    may    have    been    in    laying    down     his    map    of    Siberia,     and     the     neighboring     parts. 

He    thought    the    communication    between    the    Kamptschatkan    and    American    shores,    was 

by    a    chain    of    islands;     and    he    called    this    country    the     Jecco     of   the     Chinese,    arid 

Y 


94  AN  INQUIRY   INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

Jesso  of  the  Germans:  but  we  are  now  better  informed  where  this  Jesso,  or  Jedso, 
lies ;  and  that,  in  several  places,  the  American  may  be  discerned  from  the  Asiatic, 
or  Tartarian,  shores.  This  is  ascertained  from  the  observations  made  in  the  Russian 
expeditions,  and  faithfully  published  by  Mr.  Muller,  both  in  his  accounts  of  them, 
and  in  the  map  which  is  laid  down  for  their  better  illustration;  from  which  it 
appears,  that  their  distances  are  surprizingly  small,  of  which  I  shall  mention  the 
particulars,  after  remembering  a  few  more  of  the  customs,  in  which  the  people  of 
both  continents  seem  greatly  to  agree:  it  is  well  known,  that  some  inhabitants  of 
both  have  no  fixed  habitations,  but  rove  from  place  to  place,  with  their  herds  and 
families;  some,  in  both,  as  the  Peruvians  and  Kamptschatkans,  hang  their  dead  on 
trees,  exposed;  some  Indians  live  in  huts  built  upon  four  pieces  of  timber,  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  ground;  so  do  the  inhabitants  of  many  parts  of 
Tartary. 

The  sorceries  practised  in  almost  innumerable  places  in  Tartary,  and  even  in 
Lapland,  with  and  without  drums,  are  found  among  the  Americans,  in  a  great 
measure  similar  to  those  of  the  former;  notwithstanding  the  same  notion,  among  many 
of  the  nations  on  both  continents,  of  a  Supreme  Being  governing  all  things. 
Another  most  striking  argument,  for  the  first  peopling  of  America  from  Tartary,  is, 
that  no  horses  were  found  there  by  the  Spaniards;  but  that,  in  their  stead,  the 
people  in  several  places  were  found  to  make  use  of  rein  deer,  and,  in  others, 
dogs  to  draw  their  burdens.  Now  no  one  will  deny,  but  that  both  these  methods  are 
the  constant  practice  of  the  most  Northern  Tartars,  from  the  end  of  the  Frozen  Sea, 
to  the  most  eastern  promontory  of  the  Tschutschi.  We  know  rein  deer  are  common 
beasts  for  draught,  or  burden,  in  Lapland,  Russia,  Tartary,  &c.  and  whoever  reads 
Muller's  account  of  the  Russian  expeditions,  I  mentioned  before,  v/ill  find,  that  when 
some  of  the  adventurers  were  obliged  to  travel  over  land,  they  hired  dogs  to  carry 
their  goods,  and  often  themselves,  for  many  leagues,  there  being  neither  horses  nor 
rein  deer  to  be  had  in  those  parts.  If  it  be  objected,  that  no  parts  of  the  world 
produce  horses  in  greater  numbers  than  Tartary;  it  will  hold  true  of  the  more  fertile 
temperate  nations,  where  there  is  naturally  plenty  of  proper  forage  for  them;  but  no 
horses    could    live     in     regions    so    far     north,     where     the    ground    is    perpetually    covered 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  95 

with  snow,  and  where  nothing  fit  for  the  nourishment  of  that  noble  animal  is  to  be 
found;  in  a  word,  where  no  animal,  of  any  use  to  mankind,  could  ever  find  food, 
but  rein  deer,  by  scraping  away  the  snow,  and  eating  the  poor  moss,  and  such  like 
herbage,  there;  and  the  dogs,  which  they  feed  with  a  certain  allowance  of  dried 
fish  only;  whereas,  in  the  whole  range  of  Southern  Tartary,  which  is  a  prodigious 
tract  of  land,  horses  abound;  and  from  hence,  it  is  easy  to  conclude,  that  in  those 
northern  latitudes,  for  it  is  in  those  the  continents  of  Asia  and  America  approach 
each  other  the  nearest,  it  would  be  wholly  impracticable  to  bring  horses  from  the 
more  southern  parts;  for  they  would  perish  with  cold  and  hunger:  and,  consequently, 
there  could  not  be  any  horses  found  in  North  America.  The  people,  we  know,  can 
shift  for  themselves,  and  dwell  in  those  places,  from  whence  they  sailed  over  to 
America;  but  could  not  carry  horses  along  with  them;  and  in  the  more  southern 
latitudes,  where  horses  are  common  enough,  the  shores  of  the  Eastern  and  Western 
worlds  were  at  too  great  a  distance  for  transportation  by  sea,  over  the  great  Pacific 
Ocean,     in    those    early    times."  * 

Here,  however,  we  are  falling  too  much  into  conjecture  and  hypothesis,  and 
until  lately  this  has  been  a  subject  of  mere  speculation.  A  new  evidence  has, 
however,  been  brought  to  light;  which,  when  better  understood,  may  teach  us  the 
certainty    of    what    has    been    heretofore    a    subject    of    much     doubt. 

About  the  year  A.  D.  1780,  the  Chevalier  Botturini,  an  Italian  gentleman, 
visited  Mexico,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  what  information  was  to  be  had  touching 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America.  He  was  ardently  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  all 
that  contributed  to  develope  the  history  of  past  ages,  and  in  forming  collections 
which  would  illustrate  the  manners  and  customs  of  races  which  were  at  his  day 
almost  forgotten.  At  Mexico  he  received  the  polite  attentions  of  the  Government; 
and  every  facility  was  afforded  him  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  history  and 
customs  of  the  various  nations,  successively  conquerors  and  occupants  of  Anahuac,  as 
Mexico  was  anciently  termed.  He  was  highly  successful  in  amassing  valuable  information, 
and   in   collecting   hieroglyphic    paintings,     maps,  and    drawings   of    the    temples,     idols,    &c. 

'  Remains  of  Japhet,   p.  229. 


96  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

but  from  unknown  causes,  before  ho  was  quite  ready  to  return  to  Europe,  lie 
unhappily  incurred  the  disploasuro  of  the  government,  and  was  incarcerated.  Tho 
unfortunate  gentleman  died  in  prison  of  a  broken  heart.  His  papers,  and  manuscript 
collections    were    taken   from    him,    and    became    scattered. 

Subsequently,  Mr.  Bullock,  of  London,  —  than  whom  none  has  ever  proved  more 
enthusiastic  and  energetic  in  pursuit  of  specimens  of  antiquity,  and  of  ancient  and 
modern  art,  —  visited  Mexico  with  nearly,  if  not  the  same  views,  as  those  of  M. 
Botturini.  Through  indefatigable  exertion  and  industry,  Mr.  Bullock  succeeded  in 
making  casts  of  planispheres,  zodiacs  and  idols,  which  he  took  home  to  London,  and 
exhibited  in  a  room  fitted  up  for  the  purpose  in  his  Egyptian  Hall,  Piccadilly. 
Among  other  curiosities,  he  obtained  a  very  long  "  Aztec  Map,"  delineating  the 
travels    of    this    race    through    America,    a    fac-simile    of   which    is    prefixed    to    this    work. 

This  map,  if  it  may  properly  be  so  called,  was  among  the  valuable  collections 
of  M.  Botturini,  and  was  confiscated  with  the  rest  of  his  property  by  the  Mexican 
government.  On  Mr.  Bullock's  visiting  Mexico,  with  a  view  to  obtain  knowledge 
and  specimens  of  art,  which  should  throw  light  on  the  history  of  the  ancient  races 
which  occupied  that  country,  lie  fortunately  procured  this  map,  and  took  it  with  him 
to  England.  It  was  there  exhibited  and  attracted  the  wonder  of  the  citizens  of 
London;  but  yet  no  learned  person  seems  to  have  stepped  forward  to  apply  scrutiny 
and  investigation  towards  unravelling  its  mysteries.  It  will  bo  noticed  there  are 
numerical  figures  on  it,  and  at  the  end  of  the  map  is  a  table  of  references.  These 
were  originally  made  by  M.  Botturini,  and  those  on  the  engraving,  prefixed  to  this 
volume,  are  fac-similcs  of  the  original  chirograph  of  that  gentleman.  When  Mr. 
Bullock  again  left  London,  and  established  his  residence  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  he 
brought  with  him  two  copies  of  this  drawing,  both  of  which  are  at  present  in  this 
city,  and  from  these  the  annexed  engraving  is  taken.  The  writer  of  this  volume  has 
received  from  Mr.  Bullock  himself,  the  history  of  his  acquisition  of  this  valuable 
document,  and  is  farther  informed  by  him,  that  a  copy  yet  exists  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Mexico.  Of  its  genuineness  and  authenticity  there  is  no  question.  The  figures  and 
hieroglyphic  characters  correspond'  with  those  in  other  paintings  made  by  this  ancient 
family.      Its     genuineness    was    admitted     by    Botturini,     who    obtained    it    from    the    native 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  97 

Indians,  and.  it  has  ever  since  received  full  credit  for  being  what  it  professes,  from 
all  who  have  given  the  subject  any  attention.  Its  authenticity  has  been  placed  beyond 
a  doubt,  in  the  mind  of  the  writer,  by  the  verification  of  Mr.  Bullock  himself,  a 
gentleman  personally  known  to  him  as  one  entitled  to  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  community.  With  full  and  unhesitating  faith,  then,  the  writer  begs  to  submit  it 
to  the  study  of  the  reader,  as  a  subject  deserving  much  attention,  and  about  which 
comparatively    little    is    yet    known. 

The  native  Mexicans  stated  it  to  be  a  chart  delineating  the  entrance  into  America 
of  the  Aztec  race,  and  a  narrative  of  their  slow  and  polemic  journey  southwardly 
into    Anahuac. 

It  commences,  as  they  alleged,  with  the  departure  of  their  ancestors  from  an 
island. 

The  drawing  begins  by  exhibiting  an  enclosure,  intended  to  designate  the  boundary, 
of  a  narrow  passage  of  water,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  an  island,  and  from 
this  island  they  reached  the  main  land  in  a  boat,  as  is  here  portrayed.  On  the 
island  are  six  hieroglyphics,  each  denoting  the  word  "calMf  or  "house,"  surrounding  the 
emblem  of  a  tumulus  erected  for  worship.  Beneath  are  two  figures,  male  and  female, 
the  latter  being  distinguished  by  the  two  small  tresses  resembling  horns,  as  in  the 
mythological  painting  of  the  age  of  famine.  Attached  to  the  female  is  an  emblem 
used  heraldically,  and  points  her  out  as  one  of  the  "  children  of  the  sun,"  —  a  title 
claimed    equally    by    the    Hindoos,    ancient    Egyptians,    and    Peruvian    Incas. 

Here  it  were  well  to  notice  how  distinctly  it  is  shown  that  the  immigration  into 
America  of  this  civilized  family,  was  from  an  island  in  a  narrow  passage  of  water. 
Search  the  continent  on  all  its  coasts,  and  no  such  place  is  to  be  found  except  at 
Behring's  Straits,  which  have  been  already  described.  Is  there  not,  then,  additional 
proof  in  confirmation  of  the  opinion,  that  this  passage  was  that  which  facilitated  the 
peopling    of   America    from    the    nations    of    Asia.       [See    Appendix,    note   C] 

The  next  hieroglyphic  is  a  cartouche,  enclosing  the  zodiacal  sign  of  Tecpatl, 
"  silex^  or  "  knife/'' —  accompanied  by  a  ring  denoting  "  a  year."  From  this  we 
learn  that  their  progress  as  far  as  the  place  indicated  by  the  conical  figure  next  to 
it,  occupied  a  year  from  the  day  they  landed,  which  was  the  day  of  the  month 
known    by    the    name    Tecpatl.  Z 


98  AN    INQUIRY   INTO   THE  ORIGIN 

The  large  conical  figure,  marked  "3"  by  Botturini,  is  the  hieroglyphic  denoting 
die  building  of  a  town.  The  emblem,  phonetically  giving  the  name  of  this  place, 
is  comprehended  within  a  cartouche,  and  answers  to  the  name  Colhuacan.  Whether 
these  conical  figures  have  any  reference  to  the  tumuli  or  pyramidal  structures  yet 
remaining,  is  a  topic  for  the  fancy  and  reflection  of  the  reader.  From  the  borders 
of    the    coast,    foot-prints    point    out    the    progressive    steps    of    their    travels. 

We  then  come  to  a  row  of  eight  objects,  each  giving  the  word  colli,  or 
M  house."  To  these  arc  attached  various  figures,  connected  with  a  human  form.  The 
centre  emblem  is  the  phonetic  hieroglyphic  giving  the  name  of  the  person  represented; 
and  the  group  would  then  mean,  the  house  or  family  of  each  individual  having  the 
name  there  portrayed.  From  this  we  may  gather  the  inference,  that  at  least  eight 
PROMINENT    tribes    constituted    the    race    which     is    here    designated. 

Following  on  the  traces  of  their  footsteps,  we  next  come  to  four  persons  standing 
erect,  as  though  on  their  march.  These  arc  supposed  to  represent  the  family  of 
the  emperor,  under  whose  guidance  the.  journey  is  taken.  In  advance  marches  the 
chief,  who  is  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  one  of  the  race.  The  phonetic  symbol 
over  his  head,  designates  him  by  the  name  Cohuatl,  or  "  serpent."  Behind  him 
follows,  probably,  his  eldest  son,  denominated  as  it  seems,  Cuauh-Cohuatl.  Behind 
him  again  follows  a  person,  whom  31.  Botturini  has  named  "  Qu rtzalitl; —  and  the 
rear  is  brought  up  by  a  female,  whom  we  recognize  as  the  same  discovered  on  the 
island.  The  lady's  name  is  said  to  have  been  Chimalnuin.  She  seems  on  the 
painting  to  be  carrying  her  full  share  of  their  burden,  for  the  sack  on  her  shoulder 
is    equally    large    with    that    of    the    others. 

Coming  from  so  cold  a  country  as  that  of  Behring's  Straits,  they  must  have 
travelled  through  regions  of  bleak  and  barren  soil,  where  vegetation  must  have  been 
sparse  and  stunted  in  its  growth.  To  prove  the  correctness  of  the  position  taken  by 
the  Mexican  natives,  that  their  ancestors  came  from  the  far  north,  a  singular  symbol 
next  presents  itself  in  this  map.  It  is  none  other  than  a  large  tree,  severed  into 
two  parts,  with  a  man's  arms  in  vain  endeavoring  to  span  around  the  stump.  Here 
then,  they  for  the  first  time  had  come  far  enough  south  to  meet  large  trees;  forming 
so  striking  a  contrast  with  those  they  had  passed,  as  to  be  worthy  of  note  in  tho 
delineation    of   their   progress. 


OF  AMERICAN  ANTIQUITIES.  «J9 

Attached  to  this  tree  are  five  rings,  or  balls,  denoting  their  stay  for  five  years 
at  this  place.  The  symbol  beneath  the  line  connecting  these  five  annular  emblems, 
is  supposed  to  mark  the  establishment  of  their  empire  in  that  place,  and  to  indicate 
the  throne  of  the  emperor.  Around  and  in  front  of  this  seat,  are  five  figures 
partaking  of  fruit  from  two  vessels  in  their  midst,  one  of  which  is  empty,  the  other, 
full.  From  this  is  readily  inferred  their  arrival  at  a  fruitful  soil,  which  they  had 
thus  far  sought  for  in  vain.  Two  foot-prints,  however,  change  the  scene,  and  tears 
of  sadness  are  depicted  on  the  faces  of  the  council  there  assembled.  Perhaps  the 
cause  may  be  found  in  the  interpretation  of  the  hieroglyphics  above.  There  we 
notice  the  same  houses  or  families,  we  find  portrayed  as  constituting  the  race  on 
their  leaving  Colhuacan.  Most  probably  a  quarrel  ensued,  for  we  find  six  of 
these  families  in  council,  and  the  other  two,  in  discussion  —  one  apparently  in  authority; 
the  other  in  submission  and  in  tears.  The  last,  it  will  be  noticed,  too,  here  departs 
from  the  race  into  banishment,  as  his  footsteps  indicate.  The  monarch  also,  presiding 
both  in  the  council  of  feasts,  and  of  sadness,  will  be  recognized  as  the  figure  named 
Cohuatl    when    on    the    march. 

Again  advancing,  we  find  the  four  prominent  figures  of  Chimalman,  &-c,  on 
their  march.  Then  we  are  presented  with  the  torture  and  sacrifice  of  three  persons, 
apparently  prisoners,  clad  in  skins,  and  probably  Indians  taken  in  battle.  The 
emblems  above  them  may  perhaps  indicate  the  tribe  from  which  the  prisoners  were 
made,  whose  name  gave  the  phonetic  hieroglyphic  of  the  Aztec  word  for  eagle.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  eagle  is  in  subjection  to  the  third  of  the  eight  tribes  forming 
this    Aztec    race. 

We  then  come  to  a  land  where  they  dwelt  for  many  years.  It  commences 
with  the  emblems  of  two  cities,  named  Chocayan,  meaning  "sadness,"  and  Cohuatl- 
camac,  meaning  "  the  serpent-god."  The  subsequent  figures  are  cartouches  delineating 
the  number  of  years  they  remained  here,  and  the  zodiacal  signs  of  the  days  of  the 
month  on  which  they  made  any  slight  remove.  For  instance,  we  find  that  after  two 
years,  on  the  day  Colli,  "  house,"  they  moved  to  a  spot,  where  they  remained  three 
years;  whence  on  the  day  Tochtli,  "hare,"  they  again  resumed  their  journey;  —  and 
so    on    through     this    series    of    emblems.      As    they    leave    this     country,     we    find     them 


100  AN   INQUIRY   INTO   THE   ORIGIN 

passing  a  lake,  rudely  represented  by  a  fish  swimming  beneath  reeds  or  rushes  within 
an  enclosure.  Their  journeyings  now  became  slow.  They  were  in  a  pleasant  country, 
and  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  series  of  hieroglyphics,  they  remained  here 
many  years.  Thence  they  slowly  marched  still  more  southwardly,  here  and  there 
building  a  town  as  denoted  by  the  various  emblems  on  their  route.  In  their 
progress  we  come  to  a  town,  with  the  emblems  of  battle  surmounting  it,  and  at  its 
sides,  an  altar  bearing  a  skull,  indicating  the  mortality  which  there  ensued,  and  the 
trophy  of  victory  which  was  raised.  After  seventeen  years,  we  find  them  passing  a 
place  named  by  Botturini,  from  the  figure  here  portrayed,  Azcapotzalco.  Thirty-four 
years  more  brought  them  to  Acalhuacan.  Thirty-seven  more,  to  Ecatipu.  They 
afterwards  passed  a  rapid  river,  as  the  waves  indicate,  and  it  was  bordered  by 
canes,  or  rushes,  [query,  Mississippi?]  Subsequently  they  reached  Cohuatlitlan,  or 
"serpent-town."  Here,  for  the  first  time,  we  find  the  aloe,  or  agave,  growing,  and 
at  this  place,  after  a  few  years,  we  find  the  seventh  of  the  eight  Aztec  tribes 
deserted  the  race.  A  little  farther  we  notice  a  curious  picture,  and  which  clearly 
denotes  their  southern  progress.  There  is  a  Mexican  plant,  growing  much  like  a 
pine-apple,  the  fruit  of  which,  at  a  certain  stage  of  ripeness,  is  plucked  by  the 
natives  at  the  approach  of  evening.  The  gathering  of  the  fruit  leaves  a  large  cup, 
formed  by  the  thick  leaves  of  the  plant,  into  which  the  juices  flow  freely  during 
the  night.  In  the  morning  this  juice  is  drank  with  avidity  by  the  natives  through 
reeds,  or  is  taken  out  and  prepared  into  an  agreeable  beverage.  Their  custom  is 
here  clearly  pictured  as  having  been  practised  by  this  race  on  their  march.  At  the 
figure  "16,"  they  constructed  Tecpaiocan,  which  place,  the  map  tells  us,  became,  in 
twenty-eight  years,  the  seat  of  a  dreadful  battle.  This  is  particularly  emphasized  by 
the  emblem  of  the  sword,  shield,  and  surrounding  foot-prints.  At  "17"  and  "18," 
we  find  the  outlines  of  large  tumuli  enclosing  a  hatchet.  To  these  Botturini  has 
annexed  the  name  of  Pantitlan.  At  "20"  they  erected  a  large  town  on  the 
borders  of  a  lake,  and  to  this  they  gave  the  name  Chapoltepec,  as  is  denoted  by  the 
hieroglyphic  of  "the  grass-hopper."  Here  they  remained  many  years,  for  we  find 
the  same  place  repeated  at  the  end  of  the  series  of  zodiacal  signs,  and  it  is  there 
recorded     as     the    seat     of    a     fierce     war,     resulting     in     the     capture    of    many     Indians. 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  101 

Some  of  these  it  would  seem  were  exposed  to  fires,  and  others  were  led  captive 
by  the  victorious  Aztecs  to  receive  the  condemnation  of  their  emperor.  This  part  of 
the  map  lands  them  fairly  in  Mexico,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  natives;  and 
displays  the  various  judgments  inflicted  on  the  prisoners  they  brought  captive  from  a 
more    northern    country. 

It  were  impossible  at  the  present  day  to  exhibit  the  positions  of  the  various 
towns,  which  we  find  delineated  on  this  map.  No  doubt  the  traveller  through  the 
north-western  part  of  the  United  States,  passes  them  constantly.  Here  he  meets  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  city,  of  which  nought  remains,  save  its  ramparts,  and  "  high 
places,"  and  there,  the  lofty  tumulus,  and  range  of  walls,  point  out  to  him  the 
spot,  where  sacrifices  were  once  offered,  or  beacon  fires  were  lighted.  The  names, 
however,  and  glory  of  those  places  have  departed,  and  they  are  an  enigma  to  the 
world.  This  map,  no  doubt,  gives  us  the  appellation  of  the  most  prominent  cities, 
but    to    locate    them    with     certainly    were    beyond    the    power    of    the    present    age. 

2A 


102  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN 

A    retrospect    of     the     evidence,    thus     far    presented     to     the     reader,      exhibits     the 
following    chain    of    incident: 

L  On  the  discovery  of  America,  two  distinct  races  were  found  inhabiting  the 
continent;  —  one  civilized,  comprehending  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  with 
their  neighbors ;  —  the  other,  savage  and  nomadic,  embracing  all  the  families 
of  the  North  American  Indians.  The  civilized  inhabitants  came  originally 
from  the  north,  where  they  constructed  the  ancient  remains  yet  existing; 
and  they  were  expelled  thence  by  the  subsequent  immigration,  and  successive 
conquests  of  the  Indian  tribes,  who  came  from  the  north  of  Asia,  and 
appear    to    be    of   Mongolian    origin. 

II.  From  a  careful  examination  of  the  language,  cranial  formation,  mythology, 
hieroglyphic  system,  astronomy,  architecture,  and  customs  of  this  civilized 
family,  we  derive  ample  evidence  that  they  came  from  Southern  Asia;  and 
as  these  analogies  correspond  closely  with  customs  common  to  Hindostan 
and  ancient  Egypt,  they  must  have  descended  from  some  race  which 
imparted    to    those    two    Oriental    regions    their    peculiar    ideas  and     manners. 

HI.  Ancient  Egypt,  and  Hindostan,  are  shown  to  have  had  their  territories 
invaded  by  one  powerful  family,  who  established  in  both  countries  their 
peculiar  astronomical  science:  —  built  temples,  and  pyramids:  —  covered  them 
with  hieroglyphic  carvings:  erected  walled  cities:  —  and  whose  remains  yet 
form    a    splendid    monument    of   their    greatness. 

IV  The  early  annals  of  this  race  are  clearly  presented  in  the  pages  of  the 
inspired  volume.  Profane  historians  too,  corroborate  that  narrative,  and  give 
more  minute  information  as  to  the  successive  migrations  of  this  warlike  and 
great  family.  From  them  we  learn,  that  after  the  apportionment  of  the 
various  descendants  of  Noah  to  different  territorial  possessions,  in  the  day9 
of    Peleg,     the     Cuthite     family     were     insubordinate,     seizing     on     the     property 


OF    AMERICAN    ANTIQUITIES.  103 

of  their  neighbors.  They  increased  so  greatly  in  power,  as  to  surpass  all 
other  nations:  —  and  after  their  dispersion  by  the  Almighty,  a  portion  of 
them  invaded  and  overran  Egypt.  There  they  erected  a  splendid  empire, 
from  which  they  were  subsequently  expelled,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  persons.  Thence  they  are  traced  by  history  in  a 
north-easterly    direction    to     Palestine,    and    here    all    records    of    them   are    lost. 

V.  The  families  of  the  earth,  then  existing,  were  pastoral  and  peaceful  in  their 
habits,  except  this  race:  but  a  journey  through  these  nations,  who  had  been 
formerly  conquered  by  the  Cuthites,  must  necessarily  have  been  polemic. 
They  must  have  forcibly  provided  for  their  very  sustenance.  As  they  were 
the  only  race  recorded  as  being  skilful  in  mural  defences,  wherever  these 
very  ancient  remains  are  found,  circumstantial  evidence  is  presented  of  the 
primitive  migrations  of  this  people.  They  have  thus  been  traced,-  as  also 
by  the  relics  found  in  the  tumuli,  and  their  peculiar  zodiacal  signs,  to 
the    north    of   Siberia.       Here    all     positive    traces    are    lost. 

VI.  The  geographical  position  of  Behring's  Straits,  admits  the  possibility  of 
emigration  from  Asia  to  America.  Various  circumstances  too,  are  recorded, 
which  strongly  urge  the  probability  of  early  intimacy  between  the  inhabitants 
of  both  continents  at  that  point  and  that  that  was  the  place  which  opened 
the    path    of    access    to    the  New    World    from    the    Asiatic    continent. 

VII.  The  Aztec  map,  prefixed  to  this  volume,  confirms  the  statement  of  the  annals 
of  the  Mexican  race,  that  their  original  emigration  was  from  the  north  of 
America;  and  points  out  their  entrance  to  have  been  through  the  inlet  before 
alluded   to. 

Vm.  In  the  civilized  aboriginal  race  of  America,  we  find  traces  of  the  very 
language  of  the  Cuthite  race.  Curious  resemblances  are  detected  in  cranial 
formation.  Their  mythology,  of  which  some  instances  have  been  given, 
offers     strong     testimony     as     to     original     unity.      They     possessed     the     same 


104  AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  ORIGIN,  ETC. 

system  of  hieroglyphic  inscription.  Their  astronomical  divisions  of  time,  and 
zodiacal  signs,  are  one  and  the  same.  The  same  genius  and  peculiar 
taste  mark  their  various  specimens  of  architecture.  And,  finally,  in  many 
points    their    customs    were    alike. 

Do      THESE     INCIDENTS     FORM      A      WELL      CONNECTED      CHAIN? 

The  evidence  adduced  is  no  hypothesis.  It  is  based  on  the  testimony  of  the 
most  credible  witnesses,  whose  names  and  works  have  been  cited  in  their  respective 
places.  The  author  omits  any  argument  on  the  premises,  and  deems  it  unnecessary. 
With  the  simple  statement,  then,  of  recorded  incident,  he  submits  the  case  to  the 
candid  and  courteous  consideration  of  the  reader;  and  to  him  he  tenders  a  respectful, 
and,  probably,    final    farewell. 


Finis. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 


NOTE    A 


VIDE  PAGE   16. 


Aztalan,  Atalan,  or  Atlan,  was  the  name  of  the  country  at  the  north  whence  this  civilized 
race  was  expelled.  The  word  is  derived  from  atl,  "water,"  and  an,  "near."  The  country  was 
probably  so  named  from  its  proximity  to  large  bodies  of  water.  Where  do  we  find  a  region, 
better  deserving  the  name,  than  that  comprehended  between  the  great  Lakes  of  the  United  States, 
and  the   Mississippi,    Ohio,    and    Alleghany  rivers? 

Again,  this  region  was  named  Tbocolhuacan,  "near  or  in  the  midst  of  the  houses  of  God." 
This  word  is  derived  from  Teotl,  "God,"  colli,  "house,"  and  «huac-an,  "near  or  in  the  the  midst 
of."  The  territory,  within  the  bounds  before  enumerated,  is  covered  with  the  vestiges  of  the 
teocallis,    high   places,    and  tumuli,    forming  their   previous   abodes. 


10S  APPENDIX. 


NOTE     B. 

VIDE   PAGE  19. 

There  was  a  difference  in  the  character,  manners,  and  even  language,  of  this  civilized  family  of 
Mexico  and  Peru.  This,  however,  argues  nothing  against  their  unity  of  origin.  To  confirm  the 
reader  in  the  truth  of  this  position,  his  friend,  James  Laket,  Esq.,  M.  D.,  has  allowed  the  author 
to  append   an   article   having   some   bearing   on   this  point. 

A      BRIEF      INQUIRY      INTO      THE     CAUSES     OF      THE      SUPERIORITY     OF      MAN     IN      THE     NORTHERN 
HEMISPHERE,       OVER      THOSE      OF      THE      SOUTHERN      HEMISPHERE. 

"Earlh,  on  whose  lap  a  thousand  nations  tread, 

And  Ocean  brooding  her  prolific  bed; 

Night's  sable  orb,  blue  pole  and  silvery  zones, 

Where  other  planets  circle  other  suns; 

One  Mind   inhabits,  one  diffusive  Soul, 

Wields  the  hrgc  limbs  and  mingles  with  the  whole." 

"  A   part   how   small   of  this   terraqueous   globe   is   tenanted   by   man." 

Man  is  modified  and  affected  by  the  air  he  breathes,  and  by  the  exhalations  from  the  earth,  on 
which  he  treads.  The  earth,  as  a  planet,  is  globular,  and  of  course  her  surface  is  convex;  but 
as  a  human  habitation,  she  presents  an  infinitely  diversified  concavo-convex  exterior,  giving  to  the 
different  sections  of  her  surface  unequal  portions  of  light,  heat  and  shade.  These  apparently  small 
causes  have  produced  great  effects  upon  men  of  the  same  stock.  Hence  we  see  very  different 
men  springing  from  the  same  Caucasian  race,  and  lying  in  the  same  latitude  as  the  French  and 
Hollanders,  the  English  and  Irish,  &c.  &c.  Even  a  slight  shade  of  difference  is  perceptible  between 
the  people  of  different  districts  of  the  same  country,  where  the  area  of  these  districts  or  townships 
does  not  exceed  six  miles  square.  I  believe  the  cause  of  this  difference  to  be  the  exhalations  from 
the   earth,    and   these    exhalations    vary    either    in    quantity    or    quality    on    every    square    mile    of   land. 

The  western  hemisphere  of  our  planet,  stretching  from  South  Shetland  to  the  north  pole,  has 
been  open  to  the  enterprise  and  observation  of  Europeans  for  only  a  short  period  of  time,  a  little 
more  than  three  centuries.  From  Behring's  Straits  to  those  of  Magellan,  is  the  most  extended 
continuity  of   land;    or    the   longest  land  path   that  can    be  traced   on    the    earth's   surface.      Our    new 


APPENDIX.  109 

continent  exceeds  the  eastern  or  old  continent  in  length,  but  falls  far  short  of  it  in  breadth, 
furnishing  much  less  intertropical  land;  the  American  tomd  zone  being  mostly  made  up  of  water. 
May  not  this  be  the  cause  of  the  lower  degree  of  heat  in  our  hemisphere,  and  the  consequent 
absence    of   elephants,    lions,    and   tigers,    in   our  torrid   zone? 

But   let  us   examine    the    native   and  naturalized    man    of   America: 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  northern  and  southern  hemisphere  of  America:  nearly 
all   the    science   and    wealth    being  engrossed    by   the   former. 

Nature  appears  to  have  wrought  upon  her  most  stupendous  scale  on  the  southern  continent. 
There  her  largest  and  longest  rivers  flow,  there  she  has  spread  her  most  ample  plains,  and  reared 
her  highest  and  most  majestic  mountains: — why,  then,  are  her  men  and  land  animals  inferior  to 
those  of  the  north?  They  certainly  are,  and  this  would  appear  a  paradox,  were  it  wholly 
confined  to  America.  But  the  same  comparative  inferiority  exists  in  South  Africa,  and  Australia; 
that    is,    they   are   inferior   to  North  Africa  and  North  Asia. 

The  temperate  zones  are  said  to  be  the  best  seats  for  civilization  and  science;  and  we  have  no 
authentic  history  of  any  powerful  nation  situated  wholly  within  the  limits  of  the  burning  zone. 
The  young  nations  of  Brazil,  Columbia,  and  Guatimnla,  have  not,  as  yet,  disproved  this  assertion. 
They  are  young  as  independent  nations,  but  nearly  a  century  older  as  colonial  settlements  than  the 
United  States.  The  intense  heat  of  the  torrid  zone  is  supposed  to  enervate  man  and  impair  his 
intellectual  activity.  The  facts  and  arguments  urged  to  sustain  this  position  are  easily  found;  they 
are  well  known  and  need  not  be  repeated.  But  a  philosopher  might  reasonably  inquire  why  the 
equatorial  regions  which  produce  and  perfect  the  elephant,  the  lion,  and  the  tiger,  should  fail  in 
furnishing  eminent  men.  Is  it  caused  by  heat  alone?  In  the  present  infant  state  of  science  we 
see  as  through  a  glass,  darkly.  The  natives  of  the  intertropical  countries  have  been,  and  now  are 
inferior  to  those  of  the  north  temperate  zone,  but  this  inferiority  may  not  always  exist.  The 
influence  of  science  and  civilization  has  as  yet  been  but  partially  tried  upon  the  nations  of  the 
torrid  zone.  It  would  be  a  gloomy  prospect  to  the  christian  philanthropist,  if  he  rested  in  the 
belief,  that  this  immense  mass  of  land,  that  a  broad  belt  of  47  degrees,  of  the  most  fertile  soil  on 
the  globe,    was   to   be   forever  a  prey    to   ignorance   and   barbarism. 

But  to  leave  the  torrid  zone,  at  present,  let  us  compare  the  North  with  the  South  American 
temperate   zone. 

The  tropic  of  Cancer  cuts  the  end  of  the  Californian  Peninsula,  and  crossing  the  continent, 
passes  through  the  middle  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Between  this  line  and  the  Arctic  circle,  as  the 
continent  grows  broader,  lies  a  large  mass  of  land,  including  four-fifths  of  Mexico,  the  United 
States,  and  nearly  all  British,  Danish,  and  Russian  America.  This  tract  contains  an  immense  area 
of  land,  capable  of  containing  and  sustaining  500,000,000  of  people.  Let  us  examine  the  South 
American  temperate  zone.  The  tropic  of  Capricorn  cuts  from  Rio  Janeiro  on  the  east,  through  the 
northern  end  of  Chili  on  the  west,  leaving  to  the  south  the  greater  part  of  the  United  Provinces, 
or  Buenos  Ayres,  all  Chili  and  Patagonia,  together  with  some  unimportant  islands,  which  go  to 
make  up  the  southern  temperate  zone.  Some  of  these  countries  have  been  settled  by  civilized  men 
for  more  than  three  centuries.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata,  the  second  river  in  size  to  any  on  the  globe, 
sweeps    through  the   centre   of   this   tract;  —  but  where   is  the  commercial  wealth  borne  upon  its  waters? 

The    only    countries    that    lie   wholly    within    the    temperate    zone,    are    Buenos    Ayres,    Chili,    and 

Patagonia,    and   of  these    the   two   first   only   are    settled   by   civilized,  or  half  civilized,    men.       Patagonia 

is   abandoned   to    desolation    and   barbarism.       Buenos   Ayres   is   walered   by    the   Plata  and  its  tributaries. 

2C 


110  APPENDIX. 

This  majestic  river  runs  a  course  of  1,600  miles,  the  mean  breadth  of  its  basin  is  800  miles 
while  it  drains  a  surface  of  1,280,000  square  miles,  equal  to  the  whole  of  Europe,  exclusive  of 
Russia.  I  repeat,  that  these  provinces  have  been  settled  for  a  century  longer  than  the  United 
States,    but  how   will  the   former   compare   with   the   latter? 

"What  is  the  present  situation  of  La  Plata?  Low  enough  in  industry,  intellect,  and  morals. 
The  soil  of  Buenos  Ayres  is  little  cultivated,  and  the  mind  of  its  men  still  less.  The  natives  of 
these  provinces  have,  as  yet,  manifested  but  a  small  degree  of  that  intelligence,  enterprise,  and 
ardent  energy,  so  necessary,  and  supposed  to  be  inseparable  from  a  young  nation.  Most  of  the 
leading   men   who   freed   them    from    the   yoke    of    Spain   were    foreigners. 

The  English  made  conquests  on  the  banks  of  the  Plate  in  1805  and  6,  but  were  finally  expelled 
in  1807.  But  the  commander  in  this  contest  with  the  English  was  a  Frenchman,  (Liniers.)  All,  or 
nearly  all,  the  officers,  engineers,  and  planners  of  the  battles,  and  who  defeated  General  John 
Whitlocke   in    1807,    were   Europeans. 

Early  in  1808  the  English  government  fitted  out  a  formidable  armament  to  renew  the  invasion, 
to  conquer  and  hold  this  immense  country,  but  the  fleet  and  army  were  diverted  from  this  destination 
by  the  revolution  of  Old  Spain.  The  result  of  the  war  in  Old  Spain,  was  the  independence  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  the  people  of  which  have  enjoyed  it  nominally  for  about  thirty  years.  But  they 
have  not  brought  forth  the  fruits  of  independence,  peace  and  prosperity.  They  have  degenerated 
from  even  the  Spanish  character,  and  are  well  described  in  the  following  extract  from  Flint's 
Geography: 

"In  this  delicious  climate,  and  on  this  luxuriant  soil,  the  people  degenerate  to  demi-savages,  and 
are  ignorant,  indolent,  and  miserable.  They  live  in  mud  cottages,  and  gaming  is  their  predominant 
passion."  —  Vol.  II.   page  163. 

During  the  American  embargo  in  1S08,  some  English  merchants  undertook  to  make  up  for  the 
loss  of  the  custom  of  the  United  States,  by  opening  a  market  in  Buenos  Ayres.  They  sent  several 
cargoes  of  carpenter  and  joiner's  tools,  together  with  a  large  quantity  of  rat-traps,  to  the  river 
Plate,  thinking  these  articles  would  find  a  quick  sale,  as  the  people  were  sadly  in  need  of  houses, 
and  the  towns  on  that  river  were  infested  with  rats.  But  they  could  neither  sell  their  tools  nor 
traps. 

The  stupidity  and  indolence  of  the  people  were  hopeless  and  helpless.  They  did  not  know  the 
use  of  the  broad-axe,  plane,  or  hand-saw,  and  had  no  desire  to  learn.  None  of  the  natives  had 
ingenuity  sufficient  to  set  a  rat-trap,  although  their  houses  were  overrun  with  vermin!  I  believe 
these  facts  were  given  in,  under  oath,  to  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  published  in 
the    London    papers   early    in    1812. 

It  is  hoped  that  they  have  improved  since  1808,  but  still  they  are  immeasureably  behind  their 
Mexican   brethren.       Before    their   revolution    they   had  colleges,    but   no    printing  presses. 

The  history  of  Chili  shows  that  the  Hispanio-American  has  degenerated  there.  The  natives  of 
the  southern  section  of  this  country,  the  Araucanians,  have  never  been  conquered — they  still  preserve 
their  savage  independence.  This  has  been  urged  to  prove  the  equality  in  talents  and  energy  of  the 
savage  inhabitants  of  the  southern  zone.  But  this  only  proves  the  rapid  degeneracy  of  the 
descendants  of  the  Spanish  settlers.  The  European  Spaniards  conquered  Peru  and  the  north  of 
Chili,  with  far  less  trouble  than  the  Roman  legions  had  in  subduing  South  Britain.  The  Roman 
Eagle   did    not    perch    upon    the    Highlands    of   Scotland,    but   was    she    stayed    in    her    flight    by  fear? 


APPENDIX.  in 

By  the  fear  of  the  fierce,  but  naked  barbarians  of  that  naked  and  barren  country?  No!  The 
masters  of  the  finest  countries  on  the  globe  did  not  want  that  rugged  region;  they  threw  a  wall 
across  the  island,  and  thus  prevented  their  painted  enemies  from  passing  to  invade  their  southern 
settlements,  and  the  Picts,  like  the  Araucanians,  remained  unconquered  and  uncivilized.  The  ancient 
Mexicans  were  superior  to  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Peru  and  Chili.  Cortez  had  a  more  bloodv 
struggle,  a  longer  campaign,  and  found  fiercer  foes  to  encounter  and  conquer,  than  were  the  Peruvians, 
or  any  of  those  who  fell  beneath  the  sword  of  the  illiterate  Pizarro.  As  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians  descended  from  the  same  people,  the  superiority  of  the  former  in  the  sixteenth  centurv 
was    the   effect   of   climate,    as   will    be   shown   hereafter. 

The  Spanish  soldiers  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  failed  in  their  attempts  to 
conquer  the  savage  tribes  of  South  Chili;  true,  but  these  degenerate  troops  were  different  from  those 
who    followed   the    free-booting,    bloody   banners   of    Cortez   and    Pizarro. 

Besides,  to  conquer  a  barren  country  for  the  king  of  Spain  is  a  different  thing  from  conquering 
and  robbing  rich  countries,  like  Peru  and  Mexico,  abounding  in  gold  and  silver.  In  the  former 
rase    the    soldier    fought   for   his   king,    in   the   latter   for   himself. 

That   the  Araucanians   remain   unconquered   is    more   owing   to    their   poverty   than   their   prowess. 

They   are,    however,    greatly   superior  to  the   South   Africans,    who   are   the   next  in   order. 

South  Africa.  The  South  African  temperate  zone  extends  from  Capricorn  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  passing  through  about  11  degrees  of  latitude,  including  a  vast  territory  of  unequal 
breadth. 

The  Cape  was  doubled  by  that  adventurous  Portuguese,  Vasco  de  Gama,  in  1497,  but  was  not 
settled  by  his  countrymen.  The  Dutch  founded  Cape  Town  about  two  centuries  ago,  [1650.] 
Before  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  they  were  joined  by  many  of  the  fugitive  French 
Protestants,  who  found  the  southern  hemisphere  a  refuge  from  religious  tyranny.  Here  were  united 
the  Dutch  Republicans  and  the  French  Huguenots,  the  same  kind  of  people  who,  in  the  same 
century,  planted  the  New-Netherlands  on  the  American  shore.  This  might  be  called  the  best  sort 
of    seed-wheat   with   which    to    plant   a    colony.       We    shall    soon   see   what   a   crop    it    produced. 

The  English  conquered  the  colony  about  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  [January, 
1806,]  and  still  hold  it.  But  here  we  find  the  same  causes  to  produce  the  same  effects,  in  Africa 
as  well  as  in  America.  South  is  inferior  to  North  Africa,  and  that  inferiority  is  much  more 
apparent   and   striking    than    that    of   South    to    North   America. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  South  Africa  are  far  below  those  of  the  north,  and  the  European 
settlers  there  have  strangely  degenerated.  Cape  Town,  the  capital  of  the  colony,  has  a  population 
of  about  20,000.  Cape  Colony  includes  an  area  of  120,000  square  miles,  a  great  portion  of  which 
consists  of  mountains  of  naked  sand-stone,  or  of  the  great  Karroo  plains,  whose  hard,  dry  soil  is 
hardly  ever  moistened  by  a  drop  of  rain,  so  that  seven-tenths  of  the  territory  never  exhibits  the 
least   appearance   of   verdure. 

The  population  of  this  province  is  in  a  deplorable  state  of  degeneracy,  as  the  following  extract 
from   Murray's   excellent   Encyclopaedia   of  Geography   will   show: 

"The  Dutch  farmers,  or  boors,  of  whom  grazing  forms  almost  the  sole  occupation,  hold  very 
extensive  premises,  reaching  often  several  miles  in  every  direction.  Yet  their  spacious  domains  do 
not   prevent   frequent  boundary   feuds,  &c.   &c.         *        *        *        * 


112  APPENDIX. 

■ 
"The  boor  having  covered  this  extensive  possession  with  flocks,  and  herds,  resigns  himself  to 
supine  indolence,  devolving  the  whole  labor  on  his  slaves,  who  are  usually  Hottentots.  He  draws 
from  his  farm  neither  wine,  fruit,  nor  vegetables;  nor  does  he  make  his  herds  yield  milk,  or  butter. 
The  pipe  never  quits  his  mouth,  except  to  take  his  sopie,  or  glass  of  brandy,  and  to  eat  three 
meals  of  mutton  a  day,  soaked  in  the  fat  of  the  large  tailed  sheep.  The  mistress  of  the  mansion, 
in  like  manner,  remains  almost  immoveable  on  her  chair,  with  her  coffee  on  a  table  always  before 
her.  The  daughters  sit  round  with  their  hands  folded  rather  like  articles  of  furniture  than  like 
youthful    and    living   beings. 

"A  teacher  is  usually  employed;  but,  in  addition  to  his  proper  functions,  he  is  obliged  to  employ 
himself  in   the   most   menial   offices."     Vol.   III.  page   6G. 

The  filthy  and  abominable  habits  of  the  Hottentots  are  too  well  known,  and  have  been  too 
often  described  to  render  a  repetition  necessary.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  Hottentot  has  no  equal 
in  debasement  and  degradation,  in  any  part  of  this  huge  peninsula  north  of  the  tropic  of  Cancer. 
How  can  South  Africa  compare  with  North  Africa!  In  the  north  was  the  ancient  republic  of 
Carthage,  whose  fleets  swept  the  seas,  whose  merchants  were  princes.  She  was  for  a  long  time 
Queen  of  the  Ocean,  and  a  formidable  rival  of  Rome  herself.  Her  ill-requited  general  defeated  one 
Roman  army  after  another,  and  held  military  possession  of  the  Italian  Peninsula  for  fifteen  years. 
No  ancient  or  modern  general  ever  did  as  much  with  so  small  means  as  he.  Scipio  and  Caesar  were 
sustained   by   the   Roman   Senate,   but   Hannibal   was  betrayed  and   ruined  by  the  senate  of  Carthage. 

North  Africa  embraced  Egypt  in  the  northeast,  which  once  contained  a  large  share  of  the  learning, 
art  and  science  of  the  infant  world.  North  Africa  has  produced  great  generals,  scholars  and 
statesmen.  Most,  if  not  all  the  literature  of  ancient  Carthage  has  perished  from  the  earth.  What 
little  is  known  of  her  history  has  come  down  to  us  from  ancient  Rome,  her  haughty  rival,  and 
dastardly   and   deadly   enemy. 

But  what  of  South  Africa?  History  has  not  recorded,  nor  romance  nor  fable  feigned  the 
existence  of  a  single  civilized  nation  south  of  the  line.  The  North  African  has  tamed  the  elephant 
and  the  camel,  —  he  has  trained  the  former  to  war,  and  of  the  latter  he  has  made  a  beast  of  burden. 
So  faithful,  swift,  and  sure  has  the  camel  been  to  his  master,  that  he  is  called  the  ship  of  the  desert. 
The  North  Africans  were  expert  horsemen,  —  the  best  cavalry  in  ancient  and  modern  times;  —  the 
South  Africans  were  not,  and  are  not.  I  believe  they  have  neither  tamed  the  horse  nor  the  elephant. 
When  Egypt  was  full  of  riches,  South  Africa  was  peopled  with  savages.  If  these  savages  had 
possessed  the  sagacity  and  energy  of  the  North  American  Indians,  they  would  have  come  down  in 
armed  bands  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Nile  for  invasion  and  plunder.  The  wealth  of  the  Pharaohs 
would  then  have  changed  hands.  It  has  been  said,  that  invasions  seldom  or  never  come  from  tho 
south,   but   it  is   a  mistake. 

Invading  armies  have  proceeded  from  North  Africa — and  their  march  has  been  to  the  north  and 
east.  Sacred  history  informs  us  of  Zerah,  the  Ethiopian,  who  invaded  Palestine  with  a  force  of 
1,000,000  of  men.  Owing  to  a  want  of  figures  in  the  early  ages,  the  carelessness  of  copyists,  and 
the  credulity  of  commentators,  this  incredible  number  still  remains  in  our  Bibles.  The  mistake  in 
numbers,  however,  does  not  lead  any  man  to  doubt  the  fact,  or  deny  the  inference  drawn  from  it. 
Every  one  believes  that  Xerxes  invaded  Greece,  —  but  none  but  school-boys  believe  that  he  brought 
with  him  5,000,000,  3,000,000,  or  even  1,700,000  soldiers.  He  came  in  great  force,  but  not  as  a 
ooet   says:      "With   half  mankind   embattled  by   his   side." 


APPENDIX.  113 

The  African  general,  some  700  or  800  years  before  Christ,  invaded  Judea  with  an  army  of,  no 
doubt,  100,000  combatants.  He  must  have  marched  a  great  distance,  and  nothing  but  a  certain 
decree  of  civilization,  foresight,  and  industry  could  have  supported  such  an  army.  The  same  restless 
spirit  of  conquest  that  led  this  black  Alexander  and  his  warlike  Ethiopians  to  Asia,  would  have  led 
them  to  South  Africa,    had  there   been  any  thing  there   to   invite  an   invader. 

Australia.  Passsing  the  line  of  the  southern  tropic  east  from  Africa,  we  strike  about  the  centre 
of  New-Holland.  This  immense  mass  of  land  appears  so  very  unlike  any  other,  that  it  might 
almost  be   said   to  belong   to   another   planet. 

"It  is  in  New-Holland,"  says  Mr.  Barron  Field,  "where  it  is  summer  with  us,  where  it  is  winter 
in  Europe,  and  vice  versa;  where  the  barometer  rises  before  bad  weather,  and  falls  before  good; 
where  the  north  is  the  hot  wind,  and  the  south  the  cold;  where  the  fields  are  fenced  with  mahogany, 
and  myrtle  trees  burnt  for  fuel;  where  the  swans  are  black,  and  the  eagles  are  white,  *  *  *  * 
and  where  the  cherry  grows  with  the  stone  on  the  outside."  &c.  &c.  I  have  omitted  a  number  of 
the  learned  Mr.  Field's  specifications,  who,  it  seems,  was  in  New-Holland  at  the  time  he  penned  them. 
He  has  given  us  nothing  very  marvellous,  excepting  the  rise  and  fall  in  the  barometer;  —  and  it 
would  have  been  much  more  satisfactory,  if  he  had  favored  us  with  the  figures,  showing  exactly  the 
average  weight  of  that  part  of  the  earth's  atmosphere  that  presses  the  surface  of  this  section  of  the 
southern   zone.       If  the   mercury  rises   in  rainy    weather,    and   falls   in    fair,   it  is   a  miracle  indeed!! 

I  leave  the  white  eagles,  black  swans,  and  oviparous  moles,  &c,  to  the  professed  naturalist.  It 
is  the  wild  man  of  Australia  that  we  are  to  examine.  The  native  New-Hollander  is  a  specimen  of 
man  in  his  lowest,  rudest  form.  These  people  were  found  totally  unacquainted  with  planting  or 
sowing,  the'  use  of  tools,  and  the  breeding  of  tame  animals.  Those  on  the  coast  lived,  or  rather 
existed,  by  hunting  and  fishing.  Those  in  the  interior  lived  on  the  spontaneous  roots  and  berries, 
and  prolonged  a  miserable  existence  by  devouring  worms,  and  grubs,  that  are  found  in  the  trunks  of 
trees.       Caterpillars,    serpents,    and  spiders  enter  largely  into  an  Australian  bill   of  fare. 

Dr.  Good  observes  of  the  natives  that:  "they  have  no  aptitude  and  learn  nothing;  that  all  the 
efforts  of  the  British  government,  aided  by  the  missionaries,  together  with  the  kindest  treatment,  for 
nearly  fifty  years,    have   had  little   or  no  effect   upon    the  people." 

They  have  nothing  that  can  be  called  war,  yet  their  whole  life  is  one  continuous  fight;  they  even 
practise  single  combat  with  their  rude  spears.  All  who  have  seen  or  written  upon  the  natives  of 
this  region,  agree,  that  hitherto,  it  has  been  impossible  to  wean  them  from  their  barbarous  mode  of 
life. 

Van  Dieman's  Land  is  an  island  lying  south  of  New-Holland,  between  40°  42'  and  43°  43'  of 
south  latitude.  It  is  about  the  size  of  Scotland,  but  is  full  fifteen  degrees  nearer  to  the  equator. 
This  latitude  (40°)  is  the  most  mild  and  productive  of  any  parallel  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  but 
neither   maize  nor   tobacco    are    compatible   with   the   climate   of   Van   Dieman's   Land. 

According  to  Hassel,  the  natives  of  this  island  amount  to  about  1,500,  and  are,  if  possible,  in 
a  more  degraded  state  than  even  those  of  New-Holland.  They  cannot  fish,  nor  make  the  rudest 
canoes,  but   convey   themselves  in  wretched  rafts   over  any   water    they  are   obliged  to   cross. 

Now,  how  would  Ireland,  or  Scotland,  compare  with  Van  Dieman's  Land?  Not  the  Scotland 
and  Ireland  of  the   present    day  ;  but  when    these    provinces  were    peopled   by  pagans,  when  the   ancient 

2D 


lit  APPENDIX. 

inhabitants  painted  their  bodies  and  were  unacquainted  with  letters.  Even  then  they  were  at  a 
great  distance  from  the  debasement  of  the  Australian.  No  place  can  be  found  between  the  equator 
and  the  north  pole,  where  men  are  so  degraded  and  stupid,  as  in  Van  Dieman's  Land.  The  South 
American  can  be  compared  with  the  North  American,  who  is  his  superior — the  South  African  can 
be  compared  with  the  North  African,  who  is  still  more  his  superior;  but  with  what  northern  race 
shall  we  compare  the  Australian?  In  the  lowest  deep  of  moral  and  intellectual  imbecility  and 
barbarism  in  which  the  southern  temperate  zone  is  plunged,  the  natives  of  New-Holland  have  found 
a  "lower  deep"  of  hopeless  and  helpless  brutality.  Far  below  the  Esquimaux,  the  Laplander,  or 
the  Greenlander,  they  do  not  seem  susceptible  of  improvement.  It  is  far  from  certain  that  they  are 
capable  of  cultivation  to  the  extent  of  obtaining  a  knowledge  of  figures  and  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet. 

I  have  affirmed  the  inferiority  of  the  entire  Austral  zone,  but  will  observe,  at  the  risk  of  some 
repetition,  that  some  portions  and  sections  of  that  zone  are  less  degraded  than  others.  South 
America  is  superior  to  South  Africa,  and  the  latter  is  superior  to  Australia.  Of  the  native  South 
Americ-an  nations,  the  Araucanians,  were  superior  in  stubborn  bravery  to  the  others;  and  in  physical 
and  intellectual  energy,  the  New-Zealanders  stand  at  an  immeasurable  distance  above  the  natives  of 
New-Holland   and   Van    Dieman's    Land.  ■ 

Geographers  tell  us  of  some  islands  in  the  neighborhood  of  New-Holland  that  are  black,  barren 
and  humid,  villi  larisc  lakes  in  their  centres.  I  will  hazard  a  conjecture,  that  such  is  the  case  as 
it  respects  New-Holland;  that  she  has  large  lakes  in  her  central  regions;  and  that  if  those  regions 
are  ever  explored  by  scientific  Europeans,  they  will  find  the  middle  of  New-Holland  to  contain  the 
lowest  land  on  the  globe  —  that  is,  nearer  to  the  earth's  centre  than  the  country  around  the  Caspian 
Sea. 

A  little  more  than  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  first  colony  of  whites  was  planted  at 
Port  Jackson,  and  now  the  united  population  of  New-Holland  and  Van  Dieman's  Land  exceeds 
100,000.  A  settlement  was  made  on  Swan  River  in  1829,  under  the  patronage  of  the  British 
government,  called  Western  Australia.  The  government  made  regular  grants  of  land  to  rich  capitalists, 
who  took  out  with  them  free  English  laborers;  but  the  colony  does  not  flourish.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  greater  comparative  prosperity  of  the  penal  colonies  in  the  neighborhood,  is  owing  to  the 
cheap   compulsory   labor   of  convicts. 

Labor  is  neither  cheap  nor  compulsory  in  the  new  states  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan,  in 
America;    yet  they   are   in   a  flourishing   condition. 

The   Swan   River   settlement   has   a   population   of   about  3,000.       Gov.   Stirling   says: — 

"For  some  time  back,  registers  of  the  weather  have  been  kept  at  King  George's  Sound,  and 
at  Perth,  the  capital  of  Swan  River;  and  hereafter  it  will  be  possible  to  ascertain  with  precision 
the  ranges  of  the  temperature,  the  barometrical  pressure,  and  the  degree  of  moisture  in  these 
districts    compared   with    other  countries.  *         *        *        *         *        In   the  months   of   Januarv, 

February,  and  March,  the  heat  and  drought  are  as  disagreeable  as  they  can  be  without  affecting 
health." 

Still  this  worthy  governor  thinks  that  this  colony  will,  in  time,  become  a  wealthy  and  prosperous 
possession  of  the  crown.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  are  under  great  obligations  to  him  for  introducing 
the  thermometer  and  barometer,  and  establishing  registers  of  the  weather  in  this  remote  region.  We 
shall  soon  be  able  to  set  aside  or  sustain  the  paradoxical  assertion  of  the  learned  Mr.  Field,  who 
says    that    the    barometer    rises  before    rain,    and    falls   before    fair   weather. 


APPENDIX.  115 

If  Mr.  Field's  statement  be  confirmed,  we  may  well  suppose  that  the  Australians  have  followed 
literally  the  advice  of  the  worthy  Capt.  Anthony  Absolute— that  is,  that  they  have  got  an  atmosphere 
and  sun   of   their  own. 

Perhaps  enough  has  been  said  of  the  southern  temperate  zone,  to  establish  its  inferiority  to  the 
corresponding  zone  of  the  north;  let  us,  then,  give  a  slight  glance  at  the  polar  circles;  and 
compare   the   northern   with    the   southern    end   of   the   earth. 

The  north  frigid  zone  takes  in  a  large  quantity  of  land;  and  here  the  pole  itself  was  approached 
by  Capt.  Parry  as  near  as  seven  degrees.  The  arctic  circle  includes  the  northern  part  of  the 
Russian  empire,  and  part  of  Danish  and  British  America.  It  is  supposed  to  contain  a  land  area 
of  2,500,000  square  miles;  a  good  part  of  which  is  uninhabited  and  uninhabitable — still,  some  parts 
of  this  circle  are  susceptible  of  cultivation.  Barley  and  rye  have  ripened  within  the  limits  of  the 
arctic  zone.  It  furnishes  some  valuable  articles  for  commerce,  and  the  Greenlanders  and  Laplanders 
are  industrious,  contented  and  happy.  Iceland,  which  verges  upon  this  zone,  has  produced  many 
learned  men,  and  the  people  of  that  island  now  are  at  a  great  remove  from  unlettered  savages. 
The  hardy  Russian  hunters  brave  the  climate  of  Spitzbergen;  they  remain  during  the  darkness  of 
winter  occupied  in  pursuing  the  seal  and  the  walrus.  Spitzbergen  stretches  over  the  line  of  80° 
north, — but  under  these  hyperborean  skies  the  English  and  Dutch  whalemen  fiercely  disputed  for  the 
possession  of  its  bays.  The  latter  founded  the  village  of  Smeerenberg,  where  they  landed  the  whales 
and  extracted  the  oil;  and  it  became  so  flourishing  as  almost  to  be  considered  a  northern  Batavia. 
The  English,  Dutch,  and  American  sailors  waged  war  upon  their  gigantic  game,  until  the  circumjacent 
sea  was  nearly  fished  out,  and  the  surviving  whales  had  deserted.  The  history  of  the  northern 
tvhale   fishery   is    well    known. 

What  has  the  antarctic  circle  compared  with  this?  Little  or  nothing  but  dreary  desolation.  Mr. 
Burke  extols  the  intrepidity  of  American  sailors,  who  chace  the  whales  under  the  frozen  serpent  of 
'he   south;    but   at    that   time   no   American    tar   had   entered   the    antarctic   circle. 

In  describing  the  north  and  south  polar  regions,  the  author  of  the  Encyclopaedia  of  Geography 
has  travelled  out  of  his  latitude,  and  taken  strange  ground.  He  has  left  the  circumpolar  regions  of 
the  southern  circle,  and  travelled  down  to  the  island  of  Tristan  dAcunha!!  This  African  islet  is,  in 
the  low   latitude    of    38c,  nearer   to    the   equator   than   Madrid,    Rome,    Naples,    or   Lisbon. 

"  Yet,"  says  the  learned  writer,  "  the  bleak  storms  of  a  long  winter,  and  its  shores  crowded 
with  the  sea-elephant,  the  penguin,  and  the  albatross,  mark  its  affinity  to  the  antarctic  regions  now 
described." 

This  one  fact  would  forever  settle  the  question  as  to  the  superior  fitness  of  the  arctic  over 
the  antarctic  circle  as  an  abode  for  man.  The  stern  southern  winter  prevails  down  to  as  low 
latitude  as  38°,  and  marks  the  affinity  of  the  islet  above  mentioned,  to  the  frozen  zone.  Why,  the 
corresponding  latitude  of  38°  north  crosses  in  the  midst  and  south  of  the  land  of  the  olive,  the 
orange    and   the    vine. 

Geographers  tell  us  of  200,000  square  miles  of  land  in  the  southern  circle,  but  this  land  is  very 
difficult  to  find  on  any  map.  It  is  said  that  the  Russians  discovered  two  islets  in  1829  at  69°  south 
latitude,  and  named  them  Peter  I.,  and  Alexander  I.  These  form  the  most  southerly  spots  of  land 
yet  known  to  exist.  What  Mr.  Murray  calls  south  polar  islands,  are  wholly  north  of  the  limits 
of  the  circumpolar  zone; — they  belong  in  fact  to  the  southern  section  of  the  Austral  temperate 
zone,    and   are   nowhere   better  described  than   in  his   recent   excellent  work. 


1IG  APPENDIX. 

"Though  situated  in  a  comparatively  low  latitude,  which  in  the  northern  hemisphere  admits  of 
habitation  and  culture,  they  are  entirely  dreary  and  desolate,  buried  in  ice  and  snow,  and  not  tenanted 
by  a  single  human  being.  Their  shores,  however,  are  more  crowded  with  those  huge  amphibia., 
whose  rich  coat  of  oil  renders  them  a  tempting  prize  to  the  whalemen.  The  walrus  is  here  replaced 
by  the  sea-elephant,  a  still  huger  creature,  and  richer  in  oil.  •  •  •  •  •  Here  are  likewise 
legions  of  sea  birds  of  gigantic  size  and  peculiar  form;  among  which  the  penguin  and  the  albatross 
are    the   most    remarkable." 

The  above  described  are  the  Falkland  Islands,  South  Shetland,  and  the  New-Orkneys.  The 
former  are  about  the  latitude  of  London, —  while  the  two  latter  groups  are  scarcely  nearer  to  the 
pole  than  the  British  Islands,  after  which  they  were  named,  yet  they  have  the  climate  of  Greenland 
and  Spitzbergen.  There  is  no  probability,  and  hardly  a  possibility,  of  their  ever  being  settled  by 
an   industrious,    civilized  population. 

X'ir-Z<-til<inil.  The  natives  of  these  islands  are  superior  in  size,  strength,  ingenuity  and  intellect 
to   the   Oceanian   negroes   of   New-Holland;    they   are   supposed   to   belong   to    the   Malay   race  of   man. 

They  have  been  said  to  form  an  exception  to  the  general  low  state  of  intellect  and  morals  in 
the  Austral  countries.  They  undoubtedly  do  to  a  certain  extent;  —  but  a  careful  examination  will 
show  that  the  New-Zealander,  although  greatly  superior  to  his  Australian  neighbors,  is  still  unequal 
to  the  natives  of  the  northern  zone.  New-Zealand  lies  between  34°  and  48°  of  south  latitude,  and 
is  about  the  size  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  We  are  told  that  the  partial  civilization  which  has 
dawned  upon  these  people,  has  only  "tended  to  develop  in  a  still  more  frightful  degree  those  furious 
passions  which  agitate  the  breast  of  a  savage.  *  *  *  All  travellers  agree  that  they  are  a  noble 
race  of  savages,  although  they  are  clearly  proved,  by  the  long  residence  among  them  of  Colonel 
Cruise   and  Mr.   Earle,    to  be   still   cannibals." 

"Each  little  society  is  actuated  by  the  deepest  enmity  to  all  their  neighbors;  their  daily  and 
nightly  thought  is  to  surprise,  to  attack,  to  exterminate  them;  and  when  they  have  gained  that 
guilty   triumph,    it   is   followed   by  the   dire   consummation   of   devouring  their   victims." 

These  savage  cannibals  kill  and  bake  their  victims  and  prisoners.  All  accounts  agree  in 
representing  them  as  the  most  disgusting  and  shameless  men-eaters  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The 
crew  of  the  English  ship  Boyd  was  massacred  and  devoured  by  these  barbarians  in  1809.  Since 
that  time  several  missionaries  have  shared  the  same  fate.  Since  the  introduction  of  the  musket, 
these  ferocious  cannibals  have  made  a  code  of  laws:  —  instead  of  confining,  they  kill  and  eat  their 
criminals!  "In  England,  (said  a  New-Zealand  chief  to  an  English  missionary,)  you  hang  up  your 
thieves;  —  here  we  shoot  and  eat  them.  What  is  the  difference  between  hanging  and  burying,  and 
shooting  and  eating  ?"' 

This  monstrous  propensity  to  eat  human  flesh  is  not,  as  has  been  affirmed,  the  result  of 
necessity  —  for  "the  soil  produces,  even  spontaneously  and  plentifully,  roots  fitted  for  human  food, 
particularly  those  of  a  species  of  fern,  which  covers  almost  the  whole  country.  Besides,  these 
people  cultivate  maize,  yams,  and  potatoes,  —  they  likewise  breed  swine  in  great  abundance,  and  their 
seas  are  filled  with  the  finest  fish.  Their  entire  population  being  estimated  at  150,000,  which 
averages  only  one  for  a  square  mile,  must  make  provisions  plenty,  and  leave  no  excuse  for 
cannibalism.  Their  resources  for  provisions  are  greater  than  were  those  of  the  Indians  of  Massachusetts 
and   Virginia,    at   the    commencement   of   the    seventeenth   century. 


APPENDIX.  117 

"Great  diligence  is  exercised,  and  great  pain  endured  in  bestowing  upon  their  skins  the  unnatural 
ornament  of  tattooing;  and  the  visages  cf  the  chiefs  are  often  entirely  covered  over  with  various 
regular  figures.  This,  however,  is  not  affected  without  severe  pain,  causing  even  an  attack  of  fever; 
but  to  shrink  in  any  degree  from  the  operation  is  considered  altogether  derogatory  to  a  manly  spirit. 
They  have  also  a  horrid  art,  by  which  the  heads  of  their  enemies,  being  dried  in  an  oven,  and 
exposed  to  a  stream  of  fresh  air,  are  maintained  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation." — Encyclopaedia 
of  Geography,   Page    141,    Vol.   III. 

Great  efforts  are  making  to  civilize  and  christianize  these  fierce  savages;  but  as  yet,  with  very 
doubtful  success.  Mr.  Murray  says:  —  "In  the  four  church  missions  there  are,  under  a  regular  course 
of  education,  about  320  New-Zealanders,  whose  average  age  is  sixteen  years.  When  the  hours 
appointed  for  instruction  in  reading,  writing  and  accounts  are  expired,  the  greater  number  of  these 
natives  are  employed  in  the  mission,  some  in  building,  others  as  carpenters,  and  others  in  general 
labor.  *  *  *  *  We  think  the  missionaries  right  in  indulging  the  passion  of  the  New-Zealanders 
for  English  clothing.  *  *  *  *  *  *  True  it  is  that,  until  their  European  costume  shall  become 
complete,  (and  perhaps  even  then,)  they  will  look  more  noble  in  their  mat-cloaks;  but  no  barbarous 
country    was   ever   civilized  till    the    people   had    adopted    the    costume    of    their   conquerors." 

It  would  be  more  correct  to  say,  that  no  barbarous  people  were  ever  civilized  before,  or,  without 
being  conquered.  Before  imposing  their  present  mode  of  dress  upon  savages,  it  would  be  well  if 
the  nations   of  Europe    would  lay   aside    or   reform   their   uncomfortable  and  unnatural   costume. 

We  do  not  consider  the  practice  of  tattooing,  and  the  practice  of  drying  and  preserving  the 
heads  of  their  enemies,  however  foolish  the  first,  and  barbarous  the  last  may  be,  as  proofs  of 
supereminence  in  barbarism.  The  tortures  inflicted  by  fashion  daily  and  unceasingly  upon  both  sexes 
in  Christian  countries,  far  exceed  all  the  tattooing  of  all  the  South  Sea  savages  that  ever  existed. 
As  to  the  baking  and  keeping  the  heads  of  their  enemies,  it  is  surpassed  by  exposing  the  dead 
bodies  of  criminals  hanging  in  chains,  in  civilized  countries.  No!  these  vices  and  follies  mentioned 
above  they  have  in  common  with  the  great  and  civilized  nations  —  but  the  peculiar,  deep  and 
deplorable  vice  of  the  New-Zealander  is  his  cannibalism.  It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  produce  parallel  instances  in  the  north,  even  in  the  arctic  circle.  Men,  tortured  by  insufferable 
hunger  on  a  wreck  at  sea,  have  been  known  to  cast  "wolfish  eyes"  upon  each  other — and 
conquering  by  degrees  the  strong  repugnance  felt  at  first  for  the  horrid  feast,  have  cast  lots  for 
death,  and  saved  their  lives  by  feeding  upon  the  body  of  a  comrade.  But  man-eating  seems  to  be 
a  matter  of  choice,  not  of  necessity,  with  the  New-Zealander.  A  chief  of  a  village  informed  some 
French  officers,  that  he  experienced  extraordinary  gratification  in  devouring  a  corpse,  and  informed 
them   that   the   brain   was   the   most   delicate    bit,    though   the  haunches  were  more   substantial. 

We  look  in  vain  among  the  barbarians  of  the  north  for  this  hyena  disposition.  European 
Zealand,  which  gave  her  name  to  the  South  Sea  Zealand,  contained  in  former  ages  pirates  of  the 
fiercest  kind — robbers  and  sea-kings,  but  no  cannibals.  Western  Europe  has  been  peopled  by  pagans, 
whose  very  deities  were  warlike,  ferocious,  and  unpitying,  like  themselves;  but  Caesar  found  no 
cannibals    among  the   ancient   inhabitants    of   Gaul   and  Britain. 

We  have  dwelt  rather  longer  upon  the  New-Zealanders,  inasmuch  as  these  fierce  islanders  appeal 
to  have  more  intellect  then  any  other  men  in  the  same  parallel  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  Mr. 
Gibbon   indulged   the  pleasing  hope,    that  New-Zealand   might   produce,    at  some    future    age,    the   Hume 

<of   the    southern    hemisphere.      Unless    greater    success    attends    the    efforts    made    for   their   civilization 

2E 


118  APPENDIX. 

that  time  must  be  very  remote.  All  the  labor  of  the  most  zealous  missionaries  to  convert  these 
savages,    to    wean    them    from    war    and    cannibalism,    have    hitherto    been    unavailing. 

We  have  mentioned  sufficient  proofs  of  the  inferiority  of  the  people  of  the  southern  hemisphere; 
ami  we  believe  further,  that  the  man  of  the  north  degenerates  when  transplanted  to  the  south. 
We  have  seen  that  the  descendants  of  Dutchmen  have  degenerated  in  South  Africa;  but  the  posterity 
of   the   same   people   have   not   degenerated,    but  greatly   improved    in  New- York   and   New-Jersey. 

That  the  Spaniards  have  degenerated  at  Buenos  Ayres,  is  well  known.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  Portuguese  in  Brazil  and  East  Africa.  It  does  not  lessen  the  force  of  this  fact,  that  both 
nations  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula,  have  likewise  degenerated.  These  nations  rose  before  they  fell  — 
the  Buenos  Ayreans  have  never  risen,  and  of  course  they  cannot  fall,  as  they  are  constantly 
prostrate. 

Learning  has  flourished  to  some  extent  near  the  verge  of  the  north  frigid  zone.  Iceland  and 
and  Lapland  have  had  their  learned  men.  Linmrus  was  reckoned  among  the  hyperborean  learned,  but 
who  ever  heard  of  the  Australian  learned?  Whoever  heard  of  Oceanean,  or  Buenos  Ayrean,  or 
Chilian  learned?  In  short,  who  ever  heard  of  any  native  learning,  art,  or  science  between  Capricorn 
and  the  south  pole?  Great  Britain  alone,  with  her  2 1,000,000  of  inhabitant?,  and  her  100,000  square 
miles  of  land,  (about  the  size  of  New-Zealand,)  possesses  and  exercises  more  intellectual,  moral,  and 
physical  force  than  the-  whole  southern  temperate  zone,  with  her  5,000,000  of  square  miles  of  land, 
and   her   uncounted  millions    of   semi-barbarians,   upon    whose   territory    the   sun   never   sets. 

As  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  the  zoology  of  the  southern  zone,  its  land  animals  are  far 
inferior  to  those  of  the  north.  The  arctic  circle  is  the  home  of  the  polar  bear,  (Ursus  maritimus.) 
an  animal  of  prodigious  size,  strength  and  fierceness,  the  average  weight  of  which  is  from  1,000  to 
1,400  pounds.  If  the  antarctic  circle  has  any  land  animals,  they  have  never  been  seen  nor  described 
Dy  any  writer.  We  have  an  arctic,  but  no  antarctic  zoology.  It  may  well  be  doubted,  whether 
there  is  any  land  animal  south  of  Capricorn,  equal  in  size  and  strength  to  the  grizzly  bear  of  the 
Rocky   Mountains   of  North    America,    or   to   his   white   brother  of    the   arctic   circle. 

The  lion  of  South  Africa  is  less  in  size  than  the  lion  of  the  Lybian  and  Sahara  deserts.  The 
Cape  lion  is  said  to  be  quite  a  cowardly  animal;  he  is  certainly  smaller  lhan  the  lion  of  the  north. 
The  same  is  said  to  be  true  of  the  elephant,  the  leopard  and  all  other  land  animals  in  the  southern 
section  of  the  African  Peninsula.  The  Romans  and  Carthagenians  obtained  their  lions  and  elephants 
wholly   from    the  north. 

The  lion  by  way  of  eminence,  that  is,  the  lion  of  sacred  and  profane  history,  the  lion  of 
romance  and  fable,  the  "king  of  beasts,"  who  figures  largely  in  the  pages  of  Esop  and  La  Fontaine, 
holding  levees   and   making   speeches,   is    a   very    different   animal   from   the   lion    of  the   Cape. 

The  land  animals  of  New-Holland  are  contemptible  in  size,  and  apparently  useless  to  man. 
"The  total  absence  of  such  animals  as  lions,  tigers,  deer,  oxen,  horses,  and  bears;  in  short,  of  all 
those  races  spread  over  the  rest  of  the  world,  is  the  most  striking  feature  in  the  zoology  of  this 
region.  *  *  *  *  Nearly  all  the  quadrupeds  either  actually  belong,  or  are  intimately  related  to 
the    Glires,    (rats,  moles,   and   mice,)   of    Linnreus.       The    largest   of    the    outre   animals    is    the    Kangaroo.'' 

The  vast  superiority  of  the  northern  zone  over  the  southern  in  her  men  and  land  animals  is 
well  established; — while  the  south  is  inferior  to  the  north  in  terrestrial  animals,  she  enjoys  an 
admitted  superiority  in  her  aerial,  amphibious,  and  ocean  animals.  This  marked  difference  between 
the    two   hemispheres    is    well    worthy    of    the    attention    of    the    natural    historian.       Probably    five-sixths 


APPENDIX.  119 

of  the  volume  and  weight  of  animal  life  upon  our  planet  exists  in  the  water,  which  is  supposed  to 
cover  three-fourths  of  its  surface.  The  southern  zone,  then,  abounding  in  water,  must  far  exceed 
that  of  the  north  in  the  amount  of  animal  life.  It  has  been  mentioned,  that  she  has  much  the 
largest  amphibious  and  aerial  animals.  Her  birds  and  fish  exceed,  in  general,  those  of  the  north  in 
size  —  and  surpass  them  by  all  calculation  in  numbers.  Few,  if  any,  northern  birds  can  compare 
in  size  with  the  condor  and  albatross.  Much,  however,  remains  to  be  known  upon  this  interesting 
subject.  If  my  theory  be  sustained,  if  men  continue  to  degenerate,  as  I  think  it  is  proved  that 
they  have  degenerated  then  I  say,  the  southern  zone  will  be  slow  in  producing  a  Linnaeus,  a  Buffon, 
a  Wilson,  or  Audubon.  Having  no  authors  of  her  own,  her  history  must  be  written  by  foreigners. 
Without  going  further  into  dry  detail,  we  will  take  for  granted  the  superiority  of  terrestrial 
animal  life   in   the   north   over   that  of   the   south. 

THE      CAUSES      OF      THE      ABOVE      MENTIONED      SUPERIORITY. 

What  can  be  the  cause  of  this  amazing  difference  between  the  two  hemispheres?  Is  it  owing 
to  moral  or  physical  causes?  or  to  a  combination  and  mixture  of  both?  Man  is  said  to  be  the 
only  animal  that  possesses  a  frame  at  once  so  hardy  and  so  flexible  as  to  enable  him  to  live  and 
increase  and  multiply  his  race  from  the  arctic  to  the  antarctic  circle.  No  doubt  that  man  is  less 
effected  by  mere  physical  causes  than  brute  animals  —  and  his  change,  or  degeneracy  is  generally 
attributed  to  moral  causes,  the  influence  of  example,  &c.  &c.  But  has  not  the  influence  of  these 
causes  been  overrated?  .  If  the  descendants  of  intelligent  Europeans  degenerate  when  transplanted  to 
the  south  of  Capricorn,  and  if  this  degeneracy  has  been  constant  and  uniform  from  generation  to 
generation,  for  three  centuries,  and  through  every  degree  of  longitude,  can  it  be  wholly  owing  to 
surrounding   circumstances,    and   what   are    called    moral    causes? 

Empires  have  arisen  and  fallen  in  Europe,  Asia  and  North  Africa.  Whole  nations  have 
degenerated,    have   been   prostrated,    and   have  perished  from   the  earth. 

*     "  Empires  die ! 
Where  now  the  Roman?    Greek? 
They  stalk  an  empty  name." 


"  Though  half  our  learning  is  their  epitaph." 

Their  existence  and  greatness  are  proved  by  their  stupendous  ruins,  as  well  as  by  the  scanty  and 
mutilated  remains  of  their  written  records.  But  the  nations  of  the  southern  hemisphere  have  never 
degenerated!  and  why?  They  have  had  nothing  to  degenerate  from.  No  writ  of  ejectment  could 
reach  or  effect  a  houseless  pauper.  Having  had  no  grandeur  they  have  had  no  decadence.  The 
causes  of  their  imbecility  are  now  to  be  sought  for;  these  causes  cannot  be  accidental,  but  must  be 
fixed   and    permanent. 

To  what  cause  or  combination  of  causes  shall  we  attribute  the  inferiority  of  the  south?  Shall 
we  adopt  the  ingenious  but  fanciful  theory  of  Dr.  Darwin,  who  supposed  that  the  Moon  was 
projected  from   the   southern  hemisphere  by   a    tremendous   volcano   at   the    commencement   of   creation? 


120  APPENDIX. 

The   Doctor's   hypothesis,    however,    was  not  meant   to   meet   this   question    at    all;    but   to   account   for 
the   earth's   inclination  of   axis   to   orbit;  —  the   projection   of  so  large   a    body   as   the   moon  having 

"Turned  oblique  tho  centric  earth 
Twice  ten  degrees  and  more." 

- 

This  abrupt  departure  of  the  moon  must  have  left  the  surface  of  the  land  that  remained  in  a 
very  unlit  state  for  cultivation.  The  cavity  formerly  filled  by  the  moon  was  replaced  by  water; 
the   moon   once   occupied   the   space,    "  where    now    the   south   sea   rolls   her   waste   of  tide." 

The  only  objection  to  this  theory  is  the  extreme  difficulty  of  ascertaining  and  fixing  the  date  of 
the   event,    and    the    total   want   of    evidence   of   the   fact. 

Shall  we  suppose  that  the  natives  of  the  southern  zone  owe  their  hebetude  and  imbecility  to 
their  remoteness  from    the   seats   of    civilization    and  science? 

Some  have  asserted,  that  as  the  cradle  of  the  human  race  was  situated  in  southern  and  south- 
western Asia,  the  travelling  tribes  of  the  infant  world  found  great  difficulty  in  crossing  the  torrid 
zone,  and  that  they  arrived  at  the  Austral  countries  at  a  very  late  period.  This  is  rather  more 
rational  than  the  theory  of  lunar  disruption  and  projection;  but  will  it  aid  us  in  accounting  for  the 
rapid  degeneracy  of  the  civilized  European  when  transplanted  to  the  southern  hemisphere?  For 
about  three  centuries  this  emigration  from  Europe  has  been  going  on  —  this  zone  is  approached  by 
water  —  no  burning  African  desert  intervening — and  yet  these  emigrants  have  failed  in  civilizing  the 
natives  and   in    preserving   themselves   from   degeneracy. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  degeneracy  of  the  Dutch  in  South  Africa  is  owing  wholly  to  the  vast 
expansion  of  their  territory,  and  to  their  unwise  efforts  to  settle  the  whole  of  it,  thereby  scattering 
themselves  over  an  immense  surface,  and  of  course  becoming  savages.  If  this  be  indeed  the  true 
and  only  cause,  it  will  equally  account  for  the  barbarism  of  the  Hlspanio-American  at  , Paraguay,  and 
of  the  Lusitanio-American,  in  the  boundless  regions  of  Brazil.  But  if  dispersion  be  the  true  and 
only  cause,  why  does  it  not  operate  with  equal  energy  on  every  part  of  the  earth's  surface?  If 
it  be  powerful  and  overwhelming  in  South  Africa,  why  is  it  powerless  in  North-Africa,  in  Norway, 
and  in  Sweden?  If  it  barbarized  the  people  of  Brazil  and  Buenos  Ayres,  why  has  it  had  a 
decidedly    contrary   effect  upon   the   northern   United   States? 

The   causes   enumerated   having  been   shown   insufficient,    others   must   be   sought   for. 

I  assume  an  hypothesis,  and  give  the  following  facts  as  the  two  leading,  efficient,  and  constant 
causes   of    the   inferiority    of    the   southern   hemisphere: 

1.  The  shortness  of  the  southern  summer,  and  the  greater  obliquity  of  the  sun's  rays  in  the 
southern   hemisphere. 

2.  The    immense   and   disproportionate   mass   of   water  in   that    hemisphere. 

It  will  be  observed  that  both  these  causes  lie  far  beyond  the  reach  of  man;  that  no  human 
power  can  reach  them;  indeed,  the  first  cause,  in  point  of  order,  being  at  a  vast  distance  from  the 
earth  itself;    while   the   second  presses   its   surface. 

The  man  of  the  north  enjoys  about  eight  days  more  of  the  annual  sun  than  his  fellow  man 
of  the  south,  which,  allowing  G,000  years  for  the  age  of  the  world,  makes  an  aggregate  of  about 
131  years  for  180  generations  of  men.  Astronomers  tell  '  us  that  the  earth  is  more  rapid  in  the 
winter  half   of   her   orbit    than   in   the    summer,    and   of   course   the   sun  would  apparently   pass    slower 


APPENDIX.  121 

through  the  northern  than  the  southern  signs;  the  sun  travels  from  the  equator  to  Capricorn,  and 
returns  from  that  tropic  to  the  equator  sooner,  than  from  the  equator  to  Cancer,  and  from  the  latter 
tropic  to  the  equator.  In  other  words,  the  time  between  the  vernal  and  autumnal  equinox,  exceeds 
the  time  between  the  autumnal  and  vernal  equinox,  by  about  eight  days.  This  is  caused  by  the 
earth's  place  in  her  elliptical  orbit  being  nearer  the  sun  in  December  than  in  June,  by  about 
3,000,000  of  miles;  —  the  sun  being  in  his  perihelion  in  winter,  and  in  his  aphelion  in  summer,  the 
earth   of   course   moves    swifter  in    her    orbit   as   she  approaches   the    huge   body   of   the   sun. 

The  sun's  disk  is  a  little  broader,  and  his  apparent  diameter  greater,  when  in  his  perihelion, 
than    when   in    his    aphelion. 

His  apparent  diameter  is  32'  35''  6  in  Decembei-,  —  and  only  31'  31"  in  June.  The  sun  not 
being  in  the  centre,  but  in  what  is  called  one  of  the  lower  foci  of  the  orbit,  increases  the  space 
to  be  traversed  while  he  remains  north  of  the  equator,  that  is,  from  the  vernal  to  the  autumnal 
equinox.  It  is  of  little  consequence,  whether  we  call  the  greater  length  of  the  northern  over  the 
southern    season   seven   or   eight   days. 

It  is  a  familiar  truth  in  philosophy,  that  a  cause,  however  small,  steadily,  silently  and  incessantly 
operating,  must  produce  stupendous  effects.  The  comparative  shortness  of  the  southern  summer,  and 
the  vast  expanse  of  water  in  that  hemisphere, — these  united  causes  have  been  in  operation  for  ages, 
and   have   produced    effects    that  have  fixed   it   forever   behind   the  northern   hemisphere. 

The  nearness  of  the  sun  in  December  by  about  one-thirtieth  of  his  mean  distance,  must  increase 
the    intensity    of   his    rays,    and    add    to    his    temporary    heat    about    one-fifteenth. 

What  has  been  the  effect  of  the  sun's  proximity  upon  the  large  bodies  of  land'  in  New-Holland 
and  Buenos  Ayres?  Has  it  not  scorched  and  parched  the  earth's  surface,  and  in  many  respects, 
rendered  it  an  unpleasant  abode  for  man?  Such  is  the  peculiar  heat  of  the  atmosphere  in  New- 
Holland,  that  a  conflagration  caused  by  an  incendiary  convict,  caused  immense  destruction.  Buildings, 
fences,  and  woods  are  rendered  so  highly  combustible,  that  it  is  difficult  to  check  the  spread  of  a 
fire.  Immense  losses  have  been  sustained  by  the  settlers  and  the  British  government  in  consequence. 
I  think  this  must  be  owing  to  the  increase  of  the  sun's  heat,  as  his  distance  is  lessened  when  he 
approaches  the  southern  tropic.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  average  annual  heat  is  less  here  than 
in    the    north  —  yet.    the    inferior   fertility    is    not    wholly    owing    to    that    alone.       There   are,    doubtless, 

many   other    minor    causes;    such    as    irregularity   and    inequality   in    the    distribution    of   the   heat; and 

in    the   formation   of    the    surface    of    the    soil    itself. 

Van  Dieman's  Land  produces  stupendous  trees;  —  they  are  said  to  measure  sixty-three  feet  in 
circumference,  and  to  reach  the  height  of  180  feet  before  putting  forth  any  limbs;  but  with  all  this 
exuberant  vegetation,  there  is  not  one  natural  production  of  the  land  which  affords  the  smallest 
subsistence  to  man!!  We  can  find  nothing  like  this  in  the  northern  hemisphere — nothing  like  a 
fertile  soil  and  immense  activity  in  vegetation,  and  yet  that  is  so  niggardly  to  man!  Some  cause, 
or  combination  of  causes,  must  exist  in  order  to  produce  this  amazing  singularity — in  order  to  render 
these  countries  so  unlike  any  others  on  the  earth.  I  repeat,  that  none  can  be  named  so  apparent 
and  permanent,  as  the  two  above  stated,  that  is,  the  greater  obliquity  of  the  sun's  rays,  and  the 
wide   waste    of    waters    in    this    hemisphere. 

It   will   be   said,    that   the'  southern   zone   differs   from   itself — that    Chili   differs   from  La  Plata,    and 

that   South   Africa   and   Australia   differ   in   many    respects.     All    this    is    well    known   and   admitted, but 

these    countries    are    uniform    on    one    point:    they    all    fall    below    the    countries    in    the    corresponding 

latitudes   north   of   the  equator;  and   they   all   cause   a   degeneracy   in   the    European   emigrants. 

2F 


122  APPENDIX. 

The  nations  <>f  La  Plata  did  not  require  such  veteran  soldiers  as  Cortex  and  his  followers  to 
subdue  them  in  the  Bixteenth  century.  They  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  first  invader.  No  cities 
upon  their  Immense  river  could  be  compared  with  Mexico  —  none  like  that  ill-fated  town  could  have 
withstood  the  fierce  assaults  of  the  savage  Cortez  for  75  days.  Even  the  neighboring  state  of 
Peru,  advanced  as  she  was  in  the  arts,  was  far  behind  Mexico  in  prowess  and  energy  of  character. 
Pizarro  found  the  natives  timid  and  cowardly  when  compared  with  the  Mexicans.  They  had  not 
even  sagacity  sufficient  to  profit  by  the  battles  which  the  Spaniards  fought  with  each  other.  Now 
it  has  been  proved  beyond  all  doubt,  elsewhere,*  that  the  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  Buenos  Ayreans, 
were  the  same  people;  and  hence,  I  say,  that  the  only  difference  between  them  was  caused  by 
climate. 

Thus  much  for  the  natives  of  America.  The  inferiority  of  the  South  to  the  North  African  is 
still  greater, — and  no  one  would  think  of  naming  the  New-Hollander  with  the  Chinese  or  Tartars. 
It  is  admitted  that  the  Dutch  have  degenerated  in  South  Africa,  and  that  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese 
have  degenerated  in  South  America.  If  the  same  causes  produce  the  same  efTects,  the  same 
degeneracy  awaits  the  Anglo-Australian,  unless  some  great  effort  is  made  —  unless  some  disturbing  and 
counteracting   force    is    applied    to   arrest   his   downward   course    to    barbarism.     , 

English  writers  tell  us  that  the  British  character  has  deteriorated  already  at  New  South  Wales. 
If  this  be  apparent  in  so  short  a  period,  and  among  the  free  settlers,  how  much  more  apparent  and 
appalling   will   it  be    after   a   long   lapse    of    time,    when    these    regions   shall   be    fully   peopled? 

Nature  herself  seems  to  have  destined  the  southern  section  of  the  earth  for  the  home  of  aerial 
and  aquatic  animals.  Here  they  attain  their  largest  size,  and  here  they  swarm  in  the  greatest 
numbers.  I  am  fully  sensible  that  this  fact  has  been  mentioned  before,  and  that  I  am  defective  in 
arrangement  and  guilty  of  repetitions.  But  I  am  not  fishing  for  fine  words,  but  for  useful  facts. 
The  view  of  the  subject  is,  besides,  entirely  new,  and  although  I  have  light  enough,  I  have  neither 
path  nor  precedent  to  guide  me.  If  I  must  make  a  path  for  myself,  be  it  so,  even  at  the  risk 
of    repeating   the    same    facts. 

The  second  cause  remains  to  be  examined  —  it  is  the  immense  disparity  between  the  water  and 
land  in  the  southern  hemisphere.  Here  difficulties  beset  us  on  all  sides.  We  have  no  access  to 
tables  which  w'ould  show  the  amount  of  the  annual  heat,  or  the  barometrical  pressure  of  the  air  in 
the   southern    hemisphere.       Its   terraqueous  surface,    however,    is   tolerably    well   known. 

"Docs  yon  fair  sun  trace  half  the  circle  round, 
To  light  the  waves  and  monsters  of  the  seas?" 

Yes,  the  parent  sun  lights  a  wide  waste  of  waters,  and  produces  enormous  masses  of  organic 
life  beneath  the  waves  —  for,  during  his  march  over  the  whole  circle,  he  sees  little  on  the  land  but 
naked    and   houseless    savages,    and    civilized    men    in    different    stages   of   degeneracy. 

Is  this  region  to  be  forever  a  prey  to  darkness  and  error?  We  hope  and  believe  not  —  but 
affirm  that  it  will  require  greater  and  more  rational  efforts  than  have  ever  yet  been  made  to  produce 
a  powerful  and  thriving  nation  there.  It  will  require  more  exertion  there  than  at  the  north  —  as 
man   is   there  more   exposed    to   deleterious   external    causes. 

*  Sec   Mr.   Delaficld's   Essay 


APPENDIX.  123 

If  the  causes  and  the  consequences  of  the  inferiority  of  this  region  were  well  known,  it  would 
enable  commercial  nations  and  colonization  societies  to  calculate  the  chances  of  success  in  planting 
colonies.  This  knowledge  would  be  valuable — it  would  save  much  useless  expense,  when  it  is 
ascertained  that  other  causes  than  their  great  distance  are  in  operation  to  check  the  growth  of 
Australia    and   Cape-Colony. 

Will  the  Anglo-Australian  colonies  ever  become  rich,  enlightened,  and  independent?  Every  present 
appearance  is  against  it.  Nothing  has,  as  yet,  appeared  to  show  that  the  descendants  of  Englishmen 
will  not  remain  as  subjects  of  a  crown  colony,  and  continue  to  be  ruled  by  a  remote  island.  The 
Anglo-Australian   will    fear   the   rod   of   a  master   15,000   miles   off. 

Time  tries  all  things.  If  at  a  future  period  some  powerful  nation  should  arise  in  the  southern 
zone,  and  become  in  arts  and  arms  to  that  region  what  Great  Britain,  France,  and  the  United 
States,  have  been  and  now  are  to  the  northern  zone, — why,  then  this  theory  must  be  abandoned,  as 
not  true   to   the   extent   claimed,    and   these   speculations   be   buried  with    other  rubbish. 

It  matters  not  whether  this  rich  and  powerful  nation,  that  is  to  be,  be  Anglo-Australian,  Hispanio- 
American,  Lusitanio-American,  Anglo-Belgo-African,  or  Oceanean.  Even  the  cannibal  natives  of  New- 
Zealand,  might  be  mentioned,  for  they  are  superior  in  physical  force  and  intellectual  energy  to  any 
other   native    tribes   in    the    Austral   zone. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  the  nations  of  the  southern  zone  should  continue  stubbornly  and  successfully  to 
resist  all  efforts  made  to  civilize  them  —  then  the  physical  causes  of  their  inferiority  will  be  firmly 
established,    and   uniformly   admitted   by   all   reasonable   men. 

The  degeneracy  of  man  in  every  degree  of  longitude  in  the  southern  zone,  is  too  uniform  and 
general  to  be  the  result  of  accident  and  moral  causes  alone.  Here  I  shall  take  leave  to  repeat  the 
substance  of  what  has  been  said  before.  Respectable  writers  have  called  the  descendants  of  the 
Dutch  at  the  Cape,  and  of  the  Spaniards  at  La  Plata,  savage  barbarians;  but  these  same  learned 
authors  say,  that  it  is  wholly  owing  to  their  scattered  situation:  that  is,  if  they  had  settled  nearer 
together,  they  would  have  been  prosperous  and  rich,  and  of  course,  would  not  have  been  what  they 
actually  are  —  semi-savages.  This  theory  well  deserves  the  attention  of  the  statesman  and  philanthropist. 
Were  they,  theD,  forced  to  form  scattered  settlements?  Do  not  these  writers  put  the  effect  for  the 
cause,     and    the    cause    for    the    effect?       Is    their    dispersion    the     cause    of    their    barbarism,     or    their 

barbarism    the  cause   of   their   dispersion?      Savages   cannot    live    in    thickly    settled    communities their 

improvident  habits  could  not  provide  for  their  subsistence  in  a  dense  population.  They,  therefore 
disperse  from  necessity,  and  become  hunters  and  herdsmen.  If  dispersion  alone  would  cause  barbarism 
why  is  this  cause  inoperative  in  Louisiana,  in  Mississippi,  in  Georgia,  and  Alabama.  If  it  be  the 
sole  cause  of  degeneracy,  why  are  its  dire  effects  confined  to  the  southern  zone?  Is  the  dense 
population  of  China  caused  wholly  by  her  superior  civilization?  If  the  subjects  of  the  Celestial 
Empire,  were  scattered  over  the  fertile  lands  south  of  the  Oregon,  would  they  lose  their  industrious 
habits,    and   become   wandering,    helpless   savages? 


124  APPENDIX. 

SOME      CONCLUDING      REMARKS    ON     THE     EXTENT     OF     THE    EFFECTS      OF     THE      CAUSES    OPERATING 
UPON     THE      LAND     OF     THE     SOUTHERN      TEMPERATE     ZONE. 

The   chief  causes   enumerated   are: 

1.  The   shortness   of   the   southern   summer. 

2.  The   immense   and   disproportionate   mass   of   water    in   the   southern   zone. 

The  operation  of  these  causes  has  been  powerful,  silent  and  incessant:  —  and  of  their  peculiar 
effect  upon  the  land  and  land  animals  of  the  Austral  portion  of  our  globe,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt.  These  two  may  be  classed,  then,  as  the  first,  efficient,  and  certain  causes  of  the  hebetude 
and  degeneracy   of   the   land  animals   of   this  less  favored  hemisphere. 

Some  other  minor  causes  might  be  mentioned  as  auxiliaries;  although  their  effects  are  not  so 
well  known,  and  cannot  be  with  such  unerring  certainty  established.  They  are  mentioned  as  only 
probable   causes,    or  as   mere   hypotheses. 

They   are: 

1.  The  less  distance  of  the  sun  from  the  earth  during  the  short  southern  summer  —  which  has 
been   glanced   at   before. 

2.  The  difference   in   the  magnetic    intensity   of   the   two   hemispheres. 

It  is  said  that  the  electric  or  magnetic  intensity  of  the  northern  hemisphere  is  positive,  while 
that  of  the  southern  hemisphere  is  negative.  And,  also,  that  the  magnetic  attraction,  or  inductive 
influence  of  the  sun,  is  greatest  upon  the  southern  hemisphere.  Writers  have  embraced  different 
opinions  in  regard  to  positive  and  negative  electricity.  The  pupils  of  Franklin  give  the  following 
definition: 

"Positive  electricity  is  an  accumulation,  or  too  great  a  quantity  of  the  electric  matter  contained 
in    a   body;    and  negative   electricity   is   where  there   is   too  little." 

Until  more  is  known  of  electricity  and  magnetism,  no  hypothesis  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
these  infant  sciences,  can  be  permanent.  These  sciences  are  almost  as  dark  and  unexplored  as  the 
continent  of  New-Holland  itself.  It  seems,  however,  that  there  is  something  in  the  atmosphere  of 
Australia  that  cannot  be  explained  on  any  known  principle  of  thermometrical  heat,  or  barometrical 
pressure.  Is  it  owing  to  electricity,  or  to  some  unknown  and  unexplained  cause?  If  an  Englishman, 
as  stated  in  one  of  the  notes,  born  fifty  degrees  north  of  the  equator,  could  sustain  with  impunity, 
a  heat  of  110  degrees  in  Australia,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  naturalist  to  search  for  the  recondite 
cause.  Much  remains  to  be  known  of  this  region.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  a  comparative  degree 
of   civilization   will  prevail   over   the   vast  surface   of  Australia  before  the  close  of  the  present  century. 


APPENDIX.  125 


NOTES 


(1.)  The  Ethiopians  are  a  people  between  the  extremes  of  barbarism  and  civilization.  Their 
garments  are  of  cotton,  though  those  of  a  more  opulent  kind  are  of  silk.  *  *  *  *  Unprovided 
with   salt  at  home,    they  purchase   it   from   abroad  for  its   weight    in   gold. 

The  Hottentots  seldom  live  more  than  forty  years,  and  of  this  short  duration  of  life,  the  causes 
doubtless  are,  their  being  so  fond  of  filth,  and  residing  continually  in  the  midst  of  it;  as  also  their 
living  upon  meat  which  is  tainted  and  corrupted,  of  which  indeed  their  nourishment  principally 
consists.  —  Buff  on,  page   161,   164. 

(2.)  In  Norway  and  Lapland  the  Scotch  fir  tree  attains  to  a  height  of  sixty  feet  in  latitude 
70°;  and  at  Tornea,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  in  latitude  66°,  the  birches  are  described 
by  Van  Buch  as  "  magnificent.''''  *****  ln  Norway,  barley  sometimes  ripens,  under  favorable 
aspects,    under   the    70th   parallel    of   latitude. 

The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  just  falls  within  the  latitude  adapted  to  the  grape;  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  wine  is  annually  exported  from  that  settlement.  It  is  of  very  inferior  quality  to  the 
wines  of  Europe  and  Northern  Africa,  having  an  unpleasant,  earthy  taste,  which  is  said  to  arise 
from    the   clayey    nature   of    the    soil.  —  Borten's   Geography   of  Plants. 

The  Hyena  Dog.  —  This  dog  is  a  native  of  Southern  Africa,  and  is  a  serious  nuisance  to  the 
frontier  settlement  at  the  Cape.  Its  ferocity  seems  to  be  untameable.  Mr.  Burchell,  who  first 
carried  it  to  England,  kept  one  for  twelve  months,  at  the  end  of  which  period  even  its  feeder  did 
not  dare  to  lay  his  hand  upon  it.  The  Australian  dog  also  is  mentioned  as  exceedingly  voracious 
and  fierce.  —  Buff  on. 

(3.)  Swine's  flesh,  it  is  remarkable,  is  rejected  by  the  Caffres  with  abhorrence.  The  same  is 
the  case  with  the  feathered  tribe  to  some  extent;  none  of  them  keep  poultry  of  any  sort;  and  eggs 
as  an  article  of  food,  are  altogether  contraband.  Nay,  these  scrupulous  gentry  will  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  fish  of  the  sea,  which  they  for  the  most  part  regard  as  company  for  snakes,  and 
not  fit  for  the  food  of  a  gentleman.  So  that,  although  these  people  live  almost  wholly  on,  or  near 
the  coast,  the  entire  line  of  which  abounds  with  the  choicest  fish,  they  are  ignorant  of  the  art  of 
casting  a  net.     ******* 

The  frontier  population  of  the  European  colony  at  the  Cape  is  the  very  beau  ideal  of  bastard 
barbarism.  The  Caffres  and  the  Dutch  boors  have  always  been  tugging  at  each  other's  throats. 
******  Unfortunately,  the  English,  although  only  thirty  years  in  possession  of  the 
colony,  have,  during  that  short  period,  outstripped,  in  their  horrible  oppression  of  the  natives,  even 
the  cold-blooded  cruelties  of  the  Dutch  boors  of  the  last  century.  No  British  traveller  h&s  denied 
this,  so  far  as  we  know,  and  most  of  them  confirm  it  in  explicit  terms.  Among  them  may  be 
named  Thomson,  Barron,  Pringle,  and  quite  lately,  Dr.  Philip  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ray. —  N.  A. 
Review  for   Oct.   1834. 

(4.)    The   scattered,    poor,    and  ignorant  inhabitants  of  South  Africa,  could  not  but  submit  patiently 

to   the  oppression,    the    sportive    injustice,    and   fantastic   cruelty   of   an    English  Lord,    sent    across   the 

2G 


126  APPENDIX. 

world  to  do  with  them  as  he  pleased.  They  were  incapable  of  governing  themselves,  and  therefore 
quite   unable   to   resist   a  foreign    tyrant. 

With  the  capacity  for  self-government  comes  the  power  to  exercise  it.  A  people  entirely  fit  tr 
manage  themselves,  will  never  long  submit  to  be  managed  by  others,  much  less  to  be  managed  bj 
an    authority    residing    at   a   great   distance    from    them. 

If  the  Cape  colonists  had  not  obtained  some  slaves,  that  is,  some  combination  of  labor  in  the 
particular  works  of  their  farms,  they  would,  being  so  scattered,  and  prevented  from  combining  their 
own  labor,  have  degenerated  into  the  state  of  those  savage  descendants  of  Spaniards,  who  inhabit 
the  plains  of  Buenos  Ayres.  As  it  was,  a  more  ignorant  and  brutal  race  of  men,  than  the  boors 
or  farmers  of  South  Africa,    never,    perhaps,    existed. 

•      •••••      The    Dutch   colony   of   New- York    is    mentioned    by   way    of   contrast    with 

the  preceding  case  —  a  contrast  the  more  remarkable,  since  the  miserable  cob  my  of  South  Africa, 
and  the  prosperous  colony  of  New-York,  were  founded  by  the  same  industrious,  skilful,  and  thrifty 
nation.  —  England   and   America,  page   264. 

( 5.)  These  last,  (zones,)  however,  are  merely  names,  given  for  the  sake  of  naming;  as  in  fact, 
owing  to  the  different  distribution  of  land  and  sea  in  the  two  hemispheres,  zones  of  climate  are 
not   co-terminal    with   zones   of    latitude.  —  HerschelPs   Astronomy,  page    195. 

The  natives  (of  the  island  of  Tanna,  one  of  the-  new  Hebrides  group,)  gave  us  to  understand, 
in  a  manner  which  I  thought  admitted  of  no  doubt,  that  they  eat  human  Jlesh;  and  that  circumcision 
was  practised  among  them.  They  began  the  subject  of  eating  human  flesh  of  their  own  accord, 
by  asking  us  if  we  did;  otherwise  I  should  never  have  thought  of  asking  them  such  a  question. — 
Captain    Cool;. 

One  of  the  natives  of  New-Caledonia,  having  in  his  hand  a  bone  newly  boiled,  and  devouring 
the  remains  of  flesh  still  upon  it,  advanced  towards  one  of  the  officers  and  invited  him  to  partake 
of  his  meal.  The  latter  supposing  he  was  offering  him  a  piece  of  some  quadruped,  accepted  the 
bone,  which  was  then  covered  only  with  tendinous  parts;  and  having  shown  it  to  me,  I  perceived 
that  it  belonged  to  the  ossa  innominate  of  a  youth  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  The 
natives  who  surrounded  us,  pointed  out  on  a  child  the  situation  of  those  bones;  they  made  no 
scruple  to  own,  that  the  flesh  that  had  covered  them  had  served  as  a  meal,  and  they  gave  us  to 
understand,  that  they  considered  it  as  a  very  choice  dish.  »****•*!  brought  the 
bone  on  board  with  me,  now  picked  clean,  which  our  surgeon  recognized  to  be  that  of  a  girl.  I 
presented  it  to  the  two  natives  we  had  on  board;  and  immediately  one  of  these  anthropophagi 
seized   it    with    avidity,    and    tore   with    his   teeth    the    ligaments    and    cartilages    which    yet    remained. 

On  the  following  day,  we  landed  early  in  the  morning  on  the  nearest  part  of  the  coast,  where 
we  found  some  savages,  who  were  already  taking  their  meal.  They  invited  us  to  partake  with 
them  some  meat  newly  boiled,  which  we  perceived  to  be  human  flesh.  The  skin  that  was  on  it 
still  preserved  its  form  entire,  and  in  several  parts  even  its  color.  They  signified  to  us,  that  they 
had  cut  off  this  joint  from  the  middle  of  the  arm.  *******  Some  of  them  came  up 
to  the  most  robust  of  us,  and  felt  of  the  muscular  parts  of  our  arms  and  thighs,  exclaiming 
"Kapareck!"    with   an   air  of   admiration.     ******* 

Several  natives   swam   off  to    our  ship, — one   of    them    told   us,    that    they  had   eaten    two    of  the 


APPENDIX.  127 

thieves,  or  kayas,  who  had  been  killed  in  the  late  encounter  with  us.  *  *  *  *  It  is  difficult  to 
depict  the  ferocious  avidity  with  which  he  expressed  to  us,  that  the  flesh  of  the  unfortunate  victims 
was  devoured  by  them  after  they  had  broiled  it  on  the  coals.  This  cannibal  also  let  us  know, 
that  the  flesh  of  the  arms  and  legs  was  cut  into  slices,  and  that  they  considered  the  most  muscular 
parts  a  very  agreeable  dish.  It  was  then  easy  for  us  to  explain  why  they  frequently  felt  our  arms 
and  legs,  manifesting  a  violent  longing:  they  then  uttered  a  faint  whistling,  which  they  produced  by 
closing  the  teeth  and  applying  to  them  the  tip  of  the  tongue;  afterwards  opening  their  mouths,  they 
smacked    their    lips    several    times    in    succession. —  Voyage    of  D'Entrecasteaux,    (in    1793.) 

The  New-Zealanders  have  no  contrivance  like  a  bow  to  discharge  an  arrow  or  dart,  nor  anything 
like  a  sling  to  assist  them  in  throwing  a  stone;  which  is  the  more  surprising,  as  the  invention  of 
slings,  and  bows  and  arrows  is  much  more  obvious  than  of  the  works  which  these  people  conduct, 
and  both  these  weapons  are  found  among  much  ruder  nations,  and  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
world.     ****** 

Having  cast  our  eyes  carelessly  into  one  of'  these  provision  baskets,  we  saw  two  bones  pretty 
cleanly  picked,  which  did  not  seem  to  be  the  bones  of  a  dog,  and  which,  upon  a  nearer 
examination  we  discovered  them  to  be  those  of  a  human  body.  At  this  sight,  we  were  struck  with 
horror,  though  it  was  only  a  confirmation  of  what  we  had  heard  many  times  since  we  arrived 
upon  this  coast,  as  we  could  have  no  doubt  that  the  bones  were  human,  neither  could  we  have  any 
doubt  but  that  the  flesh  that  covered  them  had  been  eaten.  They  were  found  in  a  provision 
basket;  the  flesh  that  remained  appeared  evidently  to  have  been  dried  by  fire,  and  in  the  gristles 
at  the  end  were  the  marks  of  the  teeth  which  had  gnawed  them.  *  *  *  *  Tupia  asked  what 
bones  they  were,  and  the  Indians,  (New-Zealanders,)  without  the  least  hesitation,  answered  the  bones 
of  a  man:  they  were  then  asked  what  was  become  of  the  flesh,  and  they  replied  that  they  had 
eaten  it ! !  *  *  *  *  *  Though  stronger  evidence  of  this  horrid  practice  prevailing  among  the 
inhabitants  of  this  coast  will  scarcely  be  required,  we  have  still  stronger  to  give.  One  of  us  asked 
if  they  had  any  human  bones  with  the  flesh  remaining  upon  them,  and  upon  their  answering  us 
that  all  had  been  eaten,  we  affected  to  disbelieve  that  the  bones  were  human,  and  said  that  they 
were  the  bones  of  a  dog;  upon  which  one  of  the  natives  with  some  eagerness,  took  hold  of  his 
own  forearm,  and  thrusting  it  towards  us,  said  that  the  bone  which  Mr.  Banks  held  in  his  hand 
belonged  to  that  part  of  a  human  body;  at  the  same  time,  to  convince  us  that  the  flesh  had  been 
eaten,  he  took  hold  of  his  own  with  his  teeth,  and  made  a  show  of  eating;  he  also  bit  and  gnawed 
the  bone  which  Mr.  Banks  held  in  his  hand,  drawing  it  through  his  mouth  and  showing  by  signs, 
that  it  had  afforded  a  delicious  repast.  The  bone  was  then  returned  to  Mr.  Banks,  who  brought 
it    away    with   him.     ******* 

Some  of  our  people  found  in  the  skirts  of  the  wood  near  a  hole  or  oven,  three  human  hip- 
bones;— a   further   proof  that   these   people   eat   human    flesh.     ********* 

The  people  here  brought  us  out  several  human  bones,  the  flesh  of  which  they  had  eaten,  and 
offered   them   for   sale,    &c.     *     *     *     * 

In  the  afternoon  some  of  the  officers  went  on  shore  to  amuse  themselves  among  the  natives, 
where  they  saw  the  head  and  bowels  of  a  youth  who  had  lately  been  killed,  lying  on  the  beach, 
and  the  heart  stuck  on  a  forked  stick,  which  was  fixed  to  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  canoes. 
One  of  the  gentlemen  bought  the  head  and  brought  it  on  board,  where  a  piece  of  the  flesh  was 
broiled   and    eaten  by   one   of   the    natives,    before    all   the   officers    and    most    of   the    men.       The    sight 


123  APPENDIX. 

of  the  head  and  the  relation  of  the  above  circumstances  struck  me  with  horror,  and  filled  my  mind 
with  indignation  against  these  cannibals.  Curiosity,  however,  got  the  better  of  my  indignation,  and 
beino-  desirous  of  being  an  eye  ivilness  of  a  feast  which  many  doubted,  I  ordered  a  piece  of  the 
flesh  to  be  broiled  and  brought  to  the  quarter  deck,  where  one  of  these  cannibals  eat  it  with 
surprising  avidity.  This  had  such  an  effect  on  some  of  the  sailors  as  to  make  them  sick.  That 
the  New-Zealanders  are  cannibals,  can  now  no  longer  be  doubted.  Few  consider  what  a  savage 
man   is    in    his   natural    state,    and    even   after   he   is    in    some    degree    civilized. 

Amono-  many  reasons  which  I  have  heard  assigned  for  the  prevalence  of  this  horrid  custom,  the 
want  of  animal  food  has  been  one;  but  how  far  this  is  deducible  either  from  facts  or  circumstances, 
I  shall  leave  those  to  find  out  who  advanced  it.  In  every  part  of  New-Zealand  where  I  have  been, 
fish  was  in  such  plenty,  that  the  natives  generally  caught  as  much  as  served  both  themselves  and 
us.  Thev  have  also  plenty  of  dogs;  nor  is  there  any  want  of  wild  fowl,  which  they  know  very 
well  how  to  kill.  So  that  neither  this,  nor  the  want  of  food  of  any  kind  can  be  the  reason. 
But  whatever  it  may  be,  I  think  it  was  but  too  evident  that  they  have  a  great  liking  for  this  kind 
of   food. —  Capt.    Cook. 

The  New-Zealanders  are  ignorant  of  the  art  of  boiling.  Having  no  vessel  in  which  water  can 
be   boiled,    their   cooking   consists    wholly    of    baking   and   roasting. —  Universal    Geography. 

They   were   seen   to    eat   the  vermin   with   which   their   heads   were   sufficiently   stocked. 

Tovy  or  Tavai  Poenammoo,  the  southern  division  of  New-Zealand,  is  for  the  most  part  a 
mountainous,    and   to   all   appearance    a   barren   country.     *     * 

Eaheimaumee,  the  northern  most  division  has  a  much  better  appearance.  The  summer  temperature 
here  was  not  higher  than  66°.  The  winter  also  seemed  equally  mild;  for  in  June,  1773,  which 
corresponds  to  our  December,  the  mercury  never  fell  lower  than  48°,  and  the  trees  at  the  time 
retained  their  verdure,  as  if  in  the  summer  season,  so  that  their  foliage  is  seldom  shed,  till  pushed 
off  by  the  succeeding  leaves  of  spring.  *  *  *  There  are  no  quadrupeds  but  dogs  and  rats,  and 
the  rats  were  so  scarce  that  few  of  them  were  seen.  The  dogs  live  with  the  people,  who  breed 
them   for   no   other   purpose   than   to  eat.     *     *     *     * 

For  this  scarcity  of  animals  upon  the  land,  the  sea,  however,  makes  an  abundant  recompense, 
every  creek  swarming  with  fish.  *  *  *  The  sea  coast  is  also  visited  by  many  oceanic  birds, 
particularly    albatrosses,    sheerwaters,    penguins    and   pintadoes. 

The  dispositions  of  both  sexes  are  sanguinary  and  ferocious,  and  they  are  implacable  towards 
their  enemies.  *  *  *  *  Cannibals  in  general  are  not  solicitous  for  the  preservation  of  animals, 
or  careful  in  rearing  them,  when  they  procure  human  flesh  with  less  trouble.  These  ferocious 
savages,  therefore,  wage  continual  war  on  one  another,  and  the  victorious  gorge  themselves  upon 
the    flesh    of    the   vanquished   victims. 

Their  perpetual  state  of  war,  and  destructive  method  of  conducting  it,  operate  so  strongly 
in  pjoducing  habitual  circumspection,  that  one  hardly  ever  finds  a  New-Zealander  off  his  guard,  either 
by  night  or  by  day.  Indeed,  no  other  men  can  have  such  powerful  motives  to  be  vigilant,  as  the 
preservation  both  of  body  and  soul  depends  upon  it:  for,  according  to  their  system  of  belief,  the 
soul  of  the  man  whose  flesh  is  devoured  by  the  enemy,  is  doomed  to  a  perpetual '  fire ;  while  the 
soul  of  the  man  whose  body  has  been  rescued  from  those  who  killed  him,  as  well  as  the  souls  of 
those  who  die  a  natural  death,  ascend  to  the  habitations  of  the  gods.  *  *  *  If  they  have  more 
of   their   slaughtered   enemies  than   they   can   eat,    they    throw    them  into  the  sea.— Capt.  Cool;. 


APPENDIX.  129 

*     *     *     The   hunger    of   him   who   is    pressed   by   famine    to   fight   will    absorb  every   good  feeling, 

and  every  sentiment  that  would  restrain  him  from  allaying  that  hunger  with  the  body  of  his 
adversary.     *    *      * 

Among   those  who   are   accustomed    to   eat    the    dead,    death    must    have   lost    much    of   its  horror; 

and  where  there  is  little   horror   at   the    sight    of   death,    there    will    not   be  much    repugnance   to    kill. 

*      *      * 

The  situation  and  circumstances  of  these  people,  as  well  as  their  temper,  are  not  favorable  to 
such  as  shall  settle  as  a  colony  among  them.  Their  temper  renders  it  difficult  to  attach  them  by 
kindness.     **-****** 

This  country  scarcely  sustains  the  number  of  its  inhabitants,  who  from  their  indolence  in  not 
attending  to  the  cultivation  of  their  vegetable  productions  in  due  season,  are  urged  to  perpetual 
hostilities    by    hunger,   &c.     ***** 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  though  the  inhabitants  of  Van  Dieman's  Land  appeared  to  have 
but  a  scanty  subsistence,  they  would  not  even  touch  our  people's  bread,  though  they  saw  them  eat 
it,  whereas  '  these  people  devoured  it  greedily  when  both  mouldy  and  rotten.  But  this  was  not 
owing  to  any  defect  in  their  sensations,  for  they  were  observed  to  throw  away  articles  of  food  of 
which  our  people  eat,  with  evident  disgust,  after  only  smelling  to  them.  The  nature  of  their  food 
in  general  corresponds  with  the  nastiness  of  their  persons,  from  the  quantity  of  grease  about  them, 
and   their    clothes   never    being  washed. 

Water  is   their  universal    and   only  liquor  as   far   as   could   be  discovered.  —  Capt.    Cook. 

At  Rose  Hill,  the  heat,  on  the  10th  and  11th  of  February,  on  which  days  at  Sydney  the 
thermometer  stood  in  the  shade  at  105c,  was  so  excessive,  that  immense  numbers  of  the  large 
fox-bat  were  seen  hanging  at  the  boughs  of  the  trees,  and  dropping  in  the  water,  which  by  their 
stench  was  rendered  unwholesome.  *  *  *  During  the  excessive  heat  many  bats  dropped  dead  while 
on  the  wing;  and  it  was  remarkable  that  those  that  were  picked  up  were  chiefly  males.  In  several 
parts  of  the  harbour  the  ground  was  covered  with  different  sorts  of  small  birds,  some  dead  and 
others   gasping  for   water. 

The  relief  of  the  detachment  at  Rose  Hill  unfortunately  took  place  on  one  of  those  sultry 
days;  [in  Feb.]  and  the  officer  having  occasion  to  land  in  search  of  water,  was  compelled  to  walk 
several  miles  before  any  could  be  found,  the  rivers  which  were  known  being  all  dry;  in  his  way 
to  and  from  the  boat,  he  found  several  birds  dropping  dead  at  his  feet.  The  wind  was  about 
north-west,  and  did  much  injury  to  the  gardens,  burning  up  all  before  it.  Those  persons  whose 
business  compelled  them  to  go  into  the  heated  air,  declared  that  it  was  impossible  to  turn  the  face 
for   five    minutes    to    the   quarter   from    whence   the   wind   blew. 

The   dogs   peculiar   to   this   country    could    never  be    checked    of   their    natural    ferocity.       Although 

well   fed,    they   would   at  all   times,    but   particularly   in   the  dark,    fly   at   young  pigs,   chickens,   or  any 

small    animal     that    they     might    be    able     to    conquer,    and  immediately    kill    and   generally     eat    them. 

Capt.   Hunter  had   one    which  was   a   little    puppy   when   caught;    but    though   he    took    much   pains   to 

correct   and   break    its   savageness,    he    found    it    took    every    opportunity    to    snap    off   the    head    of   a 

fowl,    or   worry   a  pig,    and   would   do  it   in    defiance    of   correction.       The    dogs    of   this    country    are 

of   the  jackall  species.       They   never  bark;    are    of   two   colors,    the    one    red,   with    some   white    about 

it,    the   other  quite   black. 

2H 


130  APPENDIX. 

Here  [South  Africa,]  are  some  of  a  mixed  breed,  called  Mulattoes,  who  are  an  abandoned  set 
of  people,  and  have  proceeded  from  an  intermixture  of  negroes  and  Europeans;  for  when  the 
Portuguese  first  discovered  the  south-west  coast  of  Africa,  they  not  only  propagated  their  religion, 
but  also  their  species,  in  many  parts  of  it.  These  are  of  a  tawny  complexion,  and  profess 
themselves  Christians;  notwithstanding  which,  they  retain  many  of  the  most  superstitious  notions  of 
the  pagans.  They  imitate  the  Pov'.uguese  in  their  dress,  but  exceed  both  them  and  the  negroes  in 
their  rices.  The  men  arc  drunkards,  lewd,  thievish,  and  treacherous;  and  the  women  are  the  most 
abandoned  prostitutes,  sacrificing  themselves  at  all  times,  and  to  all  sorts  of  men,  without  the  least 
degree    of    restraint.  —  Cook's   Qeography. 

The  people  of  Anzico  [South  Africa,]  are  mere  savages.  They  pay  no  attention  to  agriculture, 
or  use  any  endeavors  to  preserve  their  existence,  but  by  plundering  all  who  happen  to  fall  in  their 
way,  some  of  whom  they  kill,  and  others  they  keep  as  slaves.  They  are  dreaded  for  their 
extreme    brutality,    and   are   so    irrational,    that   few   Europeans   can    trade   with   them. 

The  body  of  the  king  of  the  Jaggas  was  painted  with  various  figures,  and  anointed  every  day 
with  human  fat.  »  •  •  •  The  young  men  are  no  sooner  enrolled  as  soldiers  than  they  have 
a  collar  hung  about  their  necks,  in  token  of  slavery,  which  is  to  be  worn  by  them  till  they  bring 
home  the  head  of  an  enemy,  when  it  is  publicly  taken  off,  and  they  are  declared  freemen  of  the 
cannibal  commonwealth.  *  *  *  A  portion  of  the  captives  of  both  sexes  is  inhumanly  reserved 
to  be  killed  and  eaten;  not  in  time  of  scarcity  of  cattle  and  other  provisions,  but  out  of  cruel 
wantonness,   and   in   preference   to   all   other   flesh.  —  Cook's   Geography. 

The  Caffres.  Of  fishing  they  are  so  totally  ignorant,  that  the  whole  extent  of  their  coast, 
though  washed  by  the  sea,  and  intersected  by  several  considerable  rivers,  does  not  produce  a  single 
boat  or  floating  vessel  of  any  description;  probably  some  peculiar  superstition  may  prohibit  the  use 
of  fish,  or  otherwise  they  are  unwilling,  from  a  natural  timidity,  to  entrust  themselves  in  a  frail 
bark   upon   the   deep   waters. 

The  enunciation  of  their  language  is  fluent,  soft,  and  harmonious,  though  not  the  smallest  vestige 
of  a  written  character  is  to  be  found  among  them.  Of  astronomy,  they  only  know  that  in  about 
thirty  days  the  moon  will  have  gone  through  all  its  various  appearances,  and  that  twelve  moons 
will  bring  a  revolution  cf  the  seasons.  Their  chronology,  which  is  kept  by  the  moon,  and  registered 
by  notches  in  a  piece  of  timber,  seldom  extends  beyond  one  generation,  when  the  old  series  is 
cancelled,    and    the   death   of    a   favorite    chief,    or    some    remarkable    conquest,    serves   for   a    new    era. 

The  manner  of  disposing  of  the  dead  is  extremely  singular,  and  essentially  different  from  the 
practice  of  the  surrounding  nations.  Their  chiefs  are  usually  buried  very  deep,  under  the  places 
that  are  appointed  for  the  nocturnal  repose  of  the  oxen;  and  their  children  are  commonly  deposited  in 
excavated  ant-hills;  but  all  other  persons  are  exposed  on  their  decease  to,  the  wolves,  and  are  instantly 
dragged  away  to  the  dens  of  these  ferocious  animals, —  the  wolves  are,  therefore,  held  sacred  by  the 
Caffres,    and   permitted   to   ravage   the    country   without  molestation. 

»  •  •  •  •  \ve  may  suppose  that  nature  has  placed  some  insuperable  barrier  between  the 
natives  of  this  division  of  Africa  and  the  inhabitants  of  Europe,  or  that  the  South  Africans,  being 
so  long  accustomed  to  a  savage  manner  of  life,  and  degenerating  from  one  age  to  another,  at  length 
became    hardly    capable    of    making    any   progress    in    civilization    or    science.       It    is    very    certain    that 


APPENDIX.  131 

all  the  attempts  of  the  Europeans,  particularly  the  Dutch  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  have  been 
hitherto  ineffectual  for  making  the  least  impression  on  these  savage  mortals,  or  giving  the  least 
inclination  for,  or  even  idea  of,  the  European  manner  of  living.  —  Cooke's  Geography. 

Mauritius.  There  is  an  animal  of  a  very  singular  nature,  which  M.  Buffon  calls  the  Madagascar 
Mauritius,  and  particularly  predominates  in  the  latter,  we  think  proper  here  to  describe  it.  But  it 
is  necessary  to  premise,  that  the  bats  seen  in  Great  Britain  are  inoffensive,  incapable  from  their 
size  of  injuring  mankind,  and  not  sufficiently  numerous  to  incommode  them;  but  here  there  is  a 
larger  race  of  bats  that  are  truly  formidable;  a  single  one  is  a  dangerous  enemy,  but  when  they 
unite    in    flocks    they    become   really    dreadful. 

Des  Marchais  says,  that  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  East  African  coast  were  to  eat  animals  of 
the  bat  kind,  as  they  do  in  the  East  Indies,  they  would  never  want  a  supply  of  provisions.  They 
are  so  numerous,  that  when  they  fly  they  obscure  the  setting  sun;  early  in  the  morning  they  are 
seen  sticking  upon  the  tops  of  trees  and  clinging  together  in  great  heaps.  The  Europeans  often 
amuse  themselves  with  shooting  them,  and  the  negroes  are  expert  in  killing  them;  they,  however, 
look    on    the    bat   with   horror,    and   would   not    eat   it   if    they    were    starving. 

This  bat  is  about  a  foot  long  from  the  tip  of  the  nose  to  the  insertion  of  the  tail,  and  its 
extent    from    the    tip    of    one    wing   to    that    of    the   other,    is   about    four   feet.      ******* 

Nothing    is     safe     from     the     depredations     of    these     noxious    creatures;     they     destroy     fowls    and 
domestic     animals,     if    they     are     not    properly     secured,     and     frequently    fasten     upon     the    inhabitants 
themselves,    attacking    them    in    the    face,    and    inflicting    very    terrible    wounds.      ****** 
Persons  have   been    attacked   by    these   creatures   and    have    sometimes    passed    from    a    sound   sleep   into 
eternity. —  Cook's   Geography. 

The  smallness  of  the  number  of  inhabitants  upon  the  island  of  Madagascar  in  proportion  to  its 
extent,  [its  area  is  about  200,000  square  miles,]  may  be  imputed  to  the  horrid  cruelties  exercised  on 
their  children,  in  strangling  them  in  their  birth,  or  sacrificing  them  to  demons,  at  the  instance  of 
the    ombiasses,   or   priests,    who    hold   an  uncontrolled    power    over    their   minds. — Ibid. 

(6.)  The  opinion  that  our  sun  as  well  as  the  fixed  stars  by  which  it  is  surrounded  in  space 
maintain  their  rotative  positions  by  virtue  of  electrical  repulsion,  is  one  that  I  am  far  from  believing 
mvself  capable  of  demonstrating,  nor F  do  I  flatter  myself  that  I  shall  be  able  to  do  more  than 
clean  from  the  solar  system  such  evidence  as  will  excuse  the  conjecture.  Philosophers  have  so 
Ion"  been  in  the  habit  of  receiving  no  other  explanations  of  astronomical  phenomena  but  such  as 
are  susceptible  of  mathematical  demonstration,  that  explanations  drawn  from  any  other  source  would 
be  likely  to  find  but  little  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  astronomers  of  this  day.  But  when  we 
observe  a  phenomenon  in  the  solar  system,  or  a  condition  of  a  heavenly  body  which  has  heretofore 
been  regarded  as  totally  inexplicable,  and  which  could  not  by  possibility  have  resulted  from  the 
operations  of  the  two  great  forces  which  are  said  to  control  all  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
then  I  think  we  are  at  least  excusable  in  searching  for  some  other  agent  or  natural  cause  to  whose 
influence    we    may   rationally    ascribe    such   a   phenomenon. 

And  in  glancing  at  the  phenomena  of  the  solar  system  which  may  be  regarded  as  indicative  of 
the  electrical  condition  of  our  sun,  I  shall  first  notice  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  to  the  plane  of 
the   equator, — a    phenomenon   which   I   have   been   led   to   suspect,   depends   upon    the    difference    in   the 


I32  APPENDIX. 

magnetic  intensity  of  the  two  hemispheres  of  our  globe;  but  in  order  to  understand  the  explanation 
which  I  propose,  it  will  be  necessary  for  a  time  to  assume  that  the  sun  is  intensely  positive,  and 
that  it  disturbs  the  electrical  equilibrium  of  the  planets  by  the  law  of  induction,  and  then  the 
obliquity  of  the  ecliptic  to  the  plane  of  the  equator  would  seem  to  result  as  a  matter  of  course 
from   such  a  state   of   things. 

If  ever  our  earth  revolved  upon  an  axis  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit,  then  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic  and  the  plane  of  the  equator  must,  as  a  natural  consequence,  have  coincided;  but  so 
soon  as  any  cause  or  causes  whatever  conspired  to  render  one  hemisphere  of  the  globe  negative 
and  the  other  positive,  [the  southern  negative  and  the  northern  positive,]  immediately  the  inductive 
influence    of    the    sun    began   to   be    unequally    exerted   upon    them. 

The  attraction  of  the  positive  sun  would  be  greatest  on  the  negative  or  southern  hemisphere, 
and  this  attraction  would  occasion  a  depression  of  the  negative  pole  and  a  corresponding  elevation 
of  the  positive  pole;  and  this  depression  of  the  southern,  and  elevation  of  the  northern  pole,  would 
o-ive  the  identical  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  which  we  see  it  now 
possesses-  and  the  rapidity  with  which  this  inclination  increased  must  have  .been  proportionate  to  the 
original  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit,  and  to  the  negative  intensity  of  the  southern  hemisphere, 
while  the  extent  to  which  it  advanced  must  have  been  determined  by  the  gradual  approach  of  the 
earth's  orbit  to  a  circular  shape,  and  the  resistance  which  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  upon  its 
axis  furnished  to  the  disturbing  influence  of  the  sun.  One  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of 
this  explanation  is,  that  the  present  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  could 
not  have  been  produced  by  the  inductive  influence  of  the  sun  in  an  orbit  of  any  other  shape  than 
that  which  the  earth  possesses.  For  it  is  obvious,  that  if  the  earth's  orbit  had  been  a  perfect 
circle,  any  depression  of  the  southern  pole  occasioned  by  the  inductive  influence  of  the  sun,  would 
have  been  perpetually  increasing,  until  it  [the  southern  pole]  would  have  pointed  directly  to  the  sun 
in  everv  portion  of  its  orbit;  and  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  earth's  axis  to  have 
continued  under  these  circumstances  parallel  to  itself  in  its  revolution  round  the  sun.  For  it  is 
clear,  that  the  attraction  of  the  positive  sun  for  the  negative  hemisphere  would  have  been  equal 
from  everv  point  of  a  circular  orbit;  and  hence  the  slightest  inclination  of  the  southern  pole  towards 
the  sun  would  have  been  maintained  in  every  portion  of  the  orbit,  causing  the  northern  pole  to  describe 
annually  circles  in  the  heavens  similar  to  those  which  are  now  occasioned  by  the  precession  of  the 
equinoxes    in    every    2,500   years. 

Nor  could  the  present  inclination  of  the  axis  have  been  produced  in  an  elliptical  orbit  if  the 
sun  had  been  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  ellipse;  for  the  first  inclination  would  have  taken  place 
in  the  earth's  axis  at  its  nearest  approach  to  the  sun,  which  would  have  been  in  passing  the 
shorter  diameter  of  its  orbit,  and  whatever  inclination  towards  the  sun  the  southern  pole  might 
have  received  at  this  point,  would  have  been  corrected  as  the  earth  on  its  return  passed  the 
opposite    portion   of   its   orbit. 

It  is  clear,  that  the  attraction  of  the  positive  sun  for  the  negative  hemisphere  of  our  globe  in 
passing  the  two  extremes  of  the  shorter  axis  of  its  orbit,  would  have  been  exerted  in  diametrically 
opposite  directions,  so  that  although  the  inductive  influence  of  the  sun  thus  situated  in  the  centre 
of  the  ellipse  might  have  occasioned  oscillations  in  the  earth's  axis  of  rotations,  still  it  never  could 
have  given  to  it  any  permanent  inclination.  But  place  the  sun  in  one  of  the  foci  of  the  ellipse, 
and    you  will    find    that    his    inductive    influence    will    produce    a    very    similar    if    not    the    identical 


APPENDIX.  133 

inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic  which  it  possesses  at  present.  But  as  a 
matter  of  course  in  this  case,  we  presume  that  the  original  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  was  so 
great,  as  to  bring  the  earth  in  its  perihelion  near  enough  to  the  sun  to  enable  his  inductive  influence 
to  overcome  the  resistance  furnished  by  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  upon  its  axis,  so  that 
whenever  the  earth  approached  its  perihelion,  the  attraction  of  the  sun  for  the  negative  hemisphere, 
and  his  repulsion  of  the  positive,  were  combined  in  giving  the  earth's  axis  a  certain  degree  of 
inclination,  and  this  inclination  became  increased  at  each  annual  revolution.  But  the  amount  of 
annual  increase  must  have  diminished  in  proportion  to  the  diminution  in  the  eccentricity  of  the 
earth's  orbit,  until  finally  this  diminution  became  so  great,  as  to  remove  the  earth  in  its  perihelion 
too  far  from  the  sun  for  his  inductive  influence  further  to  disturb  the  position  of  its  axis;  and 
whatever  inclination  the  axis  had  at  that  time,  must  be  maintained  with  slight  variations  so  long  as 
the  earth  revolves  in  an  orbit  with  an  eccentricity  not  less  than  the  one  which  it  possessed  at  the 
time   when    the    inclination    ceased    to   be    augmented. 

But  whether  this  diminution  in  the  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  has  been  the  effect  of  a 
central  repulsive  power,  dependent  upon  the  electrical  condition  of  the  sun,  and  operating  upon  the 
earth  as  an  electric  of  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  intensity,  or  whether  it  has  been  exclusively  the 
result  of  the  disturbing  influence  of  the  other  planets,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  But  I  believe 
that  no  philosopher  has  ever  yet  attempted  to  assign  any  limit  to  the  original  eccentricity  of  the 
earth's  orbit,  and  all  agree  in  believing  that  it  was  once  far  greater  than  it  is  at  present.  This 
opinion  is  strongly  corroborated  by  the  geological  indications  in  high  northern  latitudes,  where  we 
find  the  fossil  remains  of  vegetables  and  animals,  which  are  now  known  to  exist  only  in  tropical 
regions,  showing  that  the  frigid  zone  must  have  once  possessed  a  much  higher  temperature  than  it 
does  at  present,  which  must  have  resulted  from  the  greater  approximation  of  the  earth  to  the  sun 
in  perihelion,  particularly  when  the  perihelion  coincided  with  the  summer  solstice.  —  Southern  Review 
for   August,   1838.     Article,  Electrical   Astronomy.     Pages    147,    148. 

(7.)  Turning  to  a  map,  the  reader  will  find  Botany  Bay  on  the  eastern  coast  of  New-Holland, 
in  the  34th  degree  of  south  latitude.  This  spot  is  the  centre  of  the  settlement  which  extends  north 
and  south  for  two  degrees  of  latitude,  forming  a  sea-coast  range  of  about  300  miles.  The  breadth 
of  the  province  may  be  reckoned  at  somewhat  less  than  200  miles  in  the  broadest  part;  and  its 
irregular  boundary  line,  as  laid  down  by  Major  Mitchell,  would  be  contained  within  the  shape  of  a 
half    heart,    except    towards    the    southern    extremity,    or   lower    end. 

Its  physical  features  are  sandy  plains  and  rocky  mountain  ranges,  intermingled  here  and  there 
with  spots  capable  of  cultivation,  especially  on  a  water  line;  the  proportion  of  the  fertile  to  the 
barren  land  will  be  apprehended  from  Major  Mitchell's  statement,  that  out  of  23,000,000  of  acres, 
not   quite   four   and   a   half  millions    have   been   found   "worth   havinc."     ***** 

Except  to  the  south  of  the  Murray,  the  general  features  of  this  vast  country  [Australia  Felix,] 
are  — an  alternation  of  vast  grazing  plains,  fertile,  till  parched  tip  by  drought;  flats  of  a  soft  soil, 
which,  after  rain,  is  scarcely  passable  even  with  light  carriages,  whilst  in  dry  weather  it  cracks  into 
large  gaps,-  wastes,  varying  from  scrub  to  sandy  desert,  and  occasional  high  lands,  which,  towards 
the    north   and    south   run    into    the  range    of    mountains    parallel    to    the    coast.      ***** 

But  the  most  striking  character  of  the  whole  country,  [Australia  Felix,]  is  the  evident  proof  it 
affords    of  violent    floods    succeeding    the    long    droughts.       Extensive   lagoons  are    discovered  along   the 

21 


IU  APPENDIX. 

banks  of  tlic  rivers,  dearly  produced  by  their  overflowing;  and  these  varying  from  lakes  to  pools 
of  mud,  or  hollows  of  springing  vegetation.  The  courses  of  the  streams  themselves  gave  evident 
marks  of  being  subjected  to  violent  torrents  at  pretty  long  intervals;  and  in  one  place  Major 
Mitchell  saw  some  saplings  of  about  ten  years  old,  which  after  growing  in  safety  for  that  period, 
had    been    destroyed   by    an  inundation. 

A  want  of  water — that  is,  the  uncertainty  of  finding  it  —  is  as  much  felt  throughout  the  vast 
plains  of  the  Happy  Australia,  as  in  New  South  Wales.  None  of  the  rivers  were  navigable  for 
the  small  boats  carried  by  the  party;  in  some  places  they  were  merely  a  succession  of  long  ponds; 
and  they  all  appeared  to  dwindle  gradually  away  towards  their  termination,  no  water  being  found  in 
any  at  their  junction  with  the  greater  streams  except  the  Murrumbidgec.  But  the  Murray  is 
always  full.  Hence  it  seems  to  follow,  that  for  years  to  come,  the  country,  like  the  colonized 
part  of   New   South   Wales,    will   only    be   fit   for   scattered   locations   and  grazing  grounds. 

Time  and  population,  the  appliances  of  art  to  embank  rivers,  to  sink  wells,  to  form  tanks,  and 
to  bring  into  operation  the  various  resources  of  human  science,  so  as  to  husband  and  equalize  the 
waters  —  may  perhaps  enable    it   to    support   a   dense    population, — but   this    will   be   ages    hence. 

It  will  be  understood  that  Major  Mitchell,  the  Surveyor  General,  and  author  of  the  two  volumes 
on  Australia  Felix,  is  the  admirer  and  eulogist  of  the  natives  of  that  region.  He  thus  describes 
the, 

SAVAGE       AT      HOME. 

As  I  was  reconnoitering  the  ground  for  a  camp,  I  observed  a  native  on  the  opposite  bank;  and, 
without   being   seen    by    him,    I    stood   awhile    to    watch    the    habits    of    a    savage    man   "at   home." 

His  hands  were  ready  to  seize,  his  teeth  to  eat,  any  living  thing;  his  step,  light  and  noiseless 
as  a  shadow,  gave  no  intimation  of  his  approach;  his  walk  suggested  the  idea  of  the  prowling  of  a 
beast  of  prey.  Every  little  track  or  impression  left  on  the  earth  by  the  lower  animals  caught  his 
keen  eye,  but  the  trees  over  head  chiefly  engaged  his  attention.  Deep  in  the  hollow  heart  of  some 
of  the  upper  branches  was  still  hidden,  as  it  seemed,  the  opossum  on  which  he  was  to  dine.  The 
wind  blew  cold  and  keenly  through  the  lofty  trees  on  the  river  margin;  yet  that  broad,  brawny 
savage   was   entirely   naked. 

Had  I  been  unarmed,  I  had  much  rather  have  met  a  lion  than  that  sinewy  biped;  but  I  was 
on  horseback  with  pistols  in  my  holsters,  a  broad  river  was  flowing  between  us,  and  I  overlooked 
him  from  a  high  bank,  and  I  ventured  to  disturb  his  meditations  with  a  loud  halloo.  He  then 
stood  still;  looked  at  me  for  about  a  minute,  and  then  retired  with  that  easy  bounding  kind  of  step 
which  may  be  termed  a  running  walk,  exhibiting  an  unrestrained  facility  of  movement,  apparently 
incompatible  with  chess  of  any  kind.  It  is  in  bounding  lightly,  at  such  a  pace,  that,  with  the 
additional  aid  of  the  "  wammcrah^  the  aboriginal  native  can  throw  his  spear  with  sufficient  force 
and    velocity    to   kill   the   emu   or   the   kangaroo,    even   when   at   their   speed.     *     *     *     * 

AUSTRALIAN      HARDIHOOD. 

At  this  camp  where  we  lay  shivering  for  the  want  of  fire,  the  dhTerent  habits  of  the  aborigines 
and   us   strangers   from   the    north  were   strongly   contrasted.       On  that   freezing  night,   the  natives   stript 


APPENDIX.  135 

off  all  their    clothes,    (their    usual    custom,)    previous   to   lying    down    to    sleep   in   the    open    air;    their 
bodies   doubled   around   a   few    burning   reeds. 

We  could  not  understand  how  they  bore  the  cold  thus  naked,  when  the  earth  was  white  with 
hoar  frost;  and  they  were  equally  at  a  loss  to  know  how  we  could  sleep  in  our  tents  without 
having  a  bit  of  fire  beside  us  to  keep  our  bodies  warm.  For  the  support  of  animal  heat,  fire  and 
smoke  are  almost  as  necessary  to  them  as  clothes  are  to  us,  and  the  naked  savage  is  not  without 
some  reason  on  his  side,  for  with  fire  to  warm  his  body,  he  has  all  the  comfort  he  ever  knows; 
whereas  we  require  both  fire  and  clothing,  and  can  therefore  have  no  conception  of  the  intensity 
of  enjoyment  imparted  to  the  naked  body  of  a  savage  by  the  glowing  embrace  of  a  cloud  of  smoke 
in  winter, — or  in  summer  the  luxury  of  a  bath  which  he  may  enjoy  in  any  pond,  when  not  content 
with  the  refreshing  breeze  that  fans  his  body  during  the  intense  heat.  —  From  the  Review  of  Major 
Mitchell's   Australian   Expedition. 

(8.)  Tin  Ancient  Peruvians. — Those  aboriginal  tribes,  up  to  the  time  of  the  Incas,  were  in  the 
lowest  state  of  savage  degradation.  Their  dwelling  places  were  holes  and  caves  in  the  mountains. 
Their  food  was  not  the  product  of  the  soil,  but,  excepting  human  flesh,  the  game  of  the  woods, 
the  fish  of  their  streams,  and  the  wild  roots,  fruits  and  berries  of  the  forest.  Those  who  were 
not  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity,  covered  themselves  with  the  undressed  skins  of  the  beasts  they 
caught. 

But  the  most  horrifying  feature  in  their  savage  character  was  their  cannibalism.  They  did  not 
content  themselves  with  imitating  the  Mexicans,  who  feasted  on  the  human  flesh  offered  to  their 
gods,  or  other  tribes  who  made  their  prisoners  of  war  the  meat  of  their  table;  but  they  fed  and 
fattened  their  own  children,  that  they  might  butcher  them  like  swine,  and  feed  on  their  bloody 
corpses.  But  no  sooner  had  the  Incarial  family  entered  Peru,  and  acquired  authority,  than  these 
shocking  atrocities  vanished  from  the  country.  —  Rev.  J.  Dempster's  Letter  from  Buenos  Ayres,  dated 
Jan.   1838. 

(9.)  Sir  David  Brewster  called  attention  to  the  important  fact,  clearly  established  by  the 
meteorological  observations  recorded  in  the  neighborhood  of  New- York,  and  those  of  Harsteen  and 
Erman  in  Siberia,  that  two  points  of  maximum  cold  existed  in  those  regions,  very  generally  agreeing 
in  the  position  with  the  centres  of  maximum  magnetic  intensities,  and  like  them,  too,  the  maximum 
of  North  America  indicated  a  decidedly  higher  degree  of  cold  than  that  which  characterised  the 
Siberian  pole.  Also,  that  the  lines  of  equally  mean  temperature,  as  they  surrounded  these  poles, 
had    such    a    relation     to     the    lines    of    equal    magnetic     intensity,    as    to    point   out    clearly    some     yet 

unknown   connexion  between   these   two    classes   of   phenomena.     ************ 

***** 

As  to  the  connexion  between  animal  and  vegetable  life  and  climate,  something  more  would  be 
found  necessary  than  mere  mean  temperature.  He  had  often  ridden  violently,  and  used  much  bodily 
exertion  in  New  South  Wales,  with  the  thermometer  at  110  degrees  in  the  shade,  when  the  same 
temperature  in  England  would  be  insupportable,  [the  same  heat  never  occurs  in  England  with  the 
mercury  in  the  shade.]  And  in  the  East  Indies  all  the  Europeans  were  so  enervated  when  the 
thermometer   stood   at   this  height   [110  degrees]    as   to  be  nearly   incapable   of   active    exertion. 

As   to   vegetation,  we   had    on    the    one    side    of   the    Himalayan    range,    at    an    elevation    of   little 


136  APPENDIX. 

more  than  10,000  feet,  lichens  and  all  the  stunted  vegetation  of  the  polar  regions;  while  on  the 
other  side,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  16,000  feet,  we  had  corn-fields  and  large  forest  trees,  and  all 
the   productions   of   the   temperate   regions   of   the   earth.     *********** 

In  his  opinion,  the  courses  of  rivers  and  of  extensive  forests,  as  well  as  of  high  ranges  of 
mountainous  tracts  were  to  be  taken  into  account,  as  influencing  most  materially  the  climate  of 
circumjacent  territories.  —  Sir  David  Brewster 's  Speech  before  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science. 

The  gentleness  of  courtship,  or  rather  the  first  proof  of  affection,  among  the  savages  of  New 
South  Wales,  consists  in  watching  the  beloved  fair  one  of  another  tribe  to  her  retirement,  and  then 
knocking  her  down  with  repeated  blows  of  a  club  or  wooden  sword.  After  which  impressive  and 
elegant  embrace,  the  matrimonial  victim  is  dragged,  streaming  in  her  blood,  to  the  lover's  party, 
and.  obliged  to  acknowledge  herself  his  wife.  Cannibalism,  in  times  of  war,  is  still  common  to 
several    of    the    islands;    [of    the   South   Sea,]    human    immolation   to    most   of    them. 

******  *****  *  *  It  is  also  probable  that  Australia  has  in  like 
manner  been  peopled  by  successive  waves  of  rovers  from  both  these  continents;  [Asia  and  Africa,] 
for  we  trace  proofs  of  both  sources,  sometimes  separate  and  sometimes  mixed.  But  the  theories 
that  have  been  offered  upon  this  subject  are  too  numerous,  and  for  the  most  part  too  fanciful  for  a 
minute   detail,    and    belong   rather    to    the   geographer   than   to    the    physiologist. 

*******  Thus  the  gigantic  height  of  the  Patagonian  has  been  adverted  to  as  a  very 
prominent  feature;  the  pigmy  form  of  the  Esquimaux;  and  the  still  more  pigmy  form  of  the  Himos 
of  Madagascar,  if  any  reliance  may  be  placed  on  the  testimony  of  Commerson,  now  that  it  has 
been  corroborated  by  Modave,  and  still  more  lately  by  the  Abbe  de  Rochon;  the  curved  leg  of  the 
Calmuc  race;  the  long  leg  of  the  Indian;  and  the  high  calf  and  flat  foot  of  the  Ethiopian.  But 
it  appears  to  me  that  all  such  distinctions  are  upon  too  narrow  a  scale,  and  perhaps  too  much 
dependent  upon  particular  circumstances,  for  admission  into  the  lines  of  a  broad  and  original 
demarcation.  —  Dr.    Good. 

The  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  separated  from  the  northern  temperate  zone  by  the  intervention 
of  the  tropical  regions,  presents  an  animal  creation  of  a  peculiar  character.  *****  Jn  like 
manner,  and  for  the  same  reason,  the  corresponding  part  of  the  American  continent  forms  a  separate 
zoological    province. 

New-Holland  possesses  several  entire  genera  of  quadrupeds,  which  have  been  discovered  in  no 
other  part  of  the  world,  and  more  than  forty  species  of  the  marsupial  tribe,  which  is  exceedingly 
rare    elsewhere. 

This  law  of  limitation  to  particular  localities  might  be  shown  to  prevail  not  less  rigidly  in  respect 
to  other  classes  of  animals,  even  to  those  of  fishes  and  birds,  which  seem  at  first  glance  to  be 
almost  unconfined  in  their  range  of  sea  and  air.  Thus  it  is  well  known  that  the  whales  which  are 
met  with  in  the  South  Sea  are  distinct  from  those  of  the  north;  the  same  dissimilarity  has  been 
found  in  all  other  marine  animals  of  the  same  class,  so  far  as  they  have  been  examined;  and  it 
has  been  asserted  by  naturalists,  who  had  spent  years  in  collecting  many  thousand  species  of  marine 
animals  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  that  there  is  not  a  single  animal  of  the  southern  regions,  from 
the  sponges  and  the  medusea  to  the  testacea,  which  is  not  distinguished  by  essential  characters  from 
the   analogous   species   in  the  northern  seas.     *************** 


APPENDIX.  137 

These  people,  [the  Australians,]  who  are  in  the  lowest  state  of  barbarism,  have  been  called  by 
some  ethnographers,  Malanesians,  or  Black  Islanders,  in  contradistinction  to  the  negroes  or  blacks  of 
Africa,  to  whom   they  bear  no  resemblance.     ************ 

A  polar  current  sets  along  the  west  side  of  New-Holland  from  the  south  pole  into  the  Bay  of 
Bengal,  and  there  are  other  currents  in  this  great  body  of  waters,  but  their  course  and  direction 
are   as   yet  too   imperfectly   known   to    be  accurately   described. —  Universal     Geography. 

Electricity. — Electrical  effects  are  exhibited  by  the  same  bodies  when  acting  as  masses,  which 
produce  chemical  phenomena  when  acting  by  their  particles;  it  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  the 
primary  cause  of  both  may  be  the  same.  ***************  *  With 
regard  to  the  great  speculative  questions,  whether  the  electrical  phenomena  depend  upon  one  fluid  in 
excess  in  the  bodies  positively  electrified,  and  in  deficiency  in  the  bodies  negatively  electrified,  or  upon 
two  different  fluids  capable  by  their  combination  of  producing  heat  and  light,  or  whether  they  may 
be  particular  exertions  of  the  general  attractive  power  of  matter,  it  is,  perhaps,  impossible  to  decide 
in  the  present   imperfect  state    of   our  knowledge. —  Sir   Humphry  Davy. 

The  platypus  anatinus,  or  duck-bill,  (the  ornithoryneus  paradoxus  of  Blumenbach,)  one  of  the 
many  wonders  of  New  South  Wales,  unites  in  its  form  and  habits  the  three  classes  of  birds,  quadrupeds, 
and  amphibials.  Its  feet,  which  are  four,  are  those  of  a  quadruped;  but  each  of  them  is  palmated 
or  webbed,  like  a  wild  fowl's;  and  instead  of  lips,  it  has  the  precise  bill  of  a  shoveller,  or  other 
broad-billed  water   bird;    while  its  body   is   covered   with   a  fur    exactly  resembling  an  otter's. 

Yet  it  lives,  like  a  lizard,  chiefly  in  the  water,  digs  and  burrows  under  the  banks  of  rivers 
and  feeds   on   aquatic  plants   and  aquatic   animals. 

*  *  *  It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  in  that  vast  part  of  the  globe  which  has  been  latest 
discovered,  and  to  which  modern  geographers  have  given  the  name  of  Australia,  comprising  New- 
Holland  and  the  islands  with  which  its  shores  are  studded,  not  a  single  bed  or  stratum  of  limestone 
has  hitherto  been  detected,  and  the  builders  are  obliged  to  make  use  of  burnt  shells  for  their  mortar, 
for  which   I  have   lately  advised   them   to   substitute  burnt   coral.  —  Dr.    Good. 

Animals  are  often  contemplated  under  the  three  divisions  of  terrestrial,  aquatic,  and  aerial. 
Plants  may  be  contemplated  in  the  same  manner.  Among  animals  it  is  probable  that  the  largest 
number  consists  of  the  first  division;  [the  land  animals,]  yet  from  the  great  variety  of  submarine 
genera  that  are  known,  this  is  uncertain.  Among  vegetables,  however,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
the  largest  number  belongs  to  the  submarine  section,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  almost  countless 
species  of  fuci,  and  other  equally  prolific  tribes  of  an  aqueous  and  subaqueous  origin,  and  the 
incalculable  individuals  that  appertain  to  each  species;  and  more  especially  if  we  take  into  consideration 
the  greater  equality  of  temperature  which  must  necessarily  exist  in  the  submarine  hills  and  valleys. 
— Dr.    Good. 

*  *  *  *  After  all  the  wonderful  and  important  discoveries  which  have  been  developed  in  it, 
natural  history  is  even  yet  but  little  more  than  in  its  infancy,  and  zoonomy  is  scarcely  entitled  to 
the  name   of  a  science  in  any   sense.    *********** 

But  the  globe  has  been  upturned  from  its  foundation;  and  with  the  wreck  of  a  great  part  of 
its    substance    has    intermingled    the    wreck    of    a    great    part    of    its    inhabitants.      It    is    a    most 

2K 


138  APPENDIX. 

extraordinary  fact,  that  of  the  five  or  six  distinct  layers  or  strata  which  compose  the  solid  crust  of 
the  earth,  the  lowermost,  or  granite,  contains  not  a  particle  of  animal  or  vegetable  materials  of  any 
kind;  the  second,  or  transition  formation,  as  Werner  has  denominated  it,  is  filled,  indeed,  with  fossil 
relics  of  animals,  but  of  animals  not  one  of  which  is  to  be  traced  in  a  living  state  at  the  present 
day;  and  it  is  not  until  we  ascend  to  the  third  or  Jloelz  stratification  that  we  meet  with  a  single 
organic    remain    of    known    animal    structures.  —  Dr.    Good. 

[Have  any  of  these  organic  remains  of  unknown  or  antediluvian  animals  ever  been  found  in 
Australia?  With  the  single  exception  of  Buenos  Ayres,  I  do  not  recollect  of  any  signs  of  an  ancient 
world   being   found   south   of   the   southern    tropic.      Of    this,    however,    I   am   not   positive. — J.  L.] 

The  sun  is  the  great  physical  creator  and  dispenser  of  light  and  heat,  and  the  supporter  and 
modifier  of  animal  life  on  our  little  planet.  His  bulk  is  to  that  of  the  earth,  in  round  numbers,  as 
1,11)0,000  to  1;  and  his  density  or  weight  as  about  355,000  to  1.  Hence  his  influence  upon  the 
earth's  surface  must  be  immense  and  overwhelming.  It  is  when  in  his  perihelion,  where  his  angular 
velocity  is  the  greatest,  and  his  disk  the  broadest,  that  he  pours  his  direct  rays  upon  the  southern 
hemisphere. 

"  The  sun's  rays,"  says  Herschell,  "  are  the  ultimate  source  of  almost  every  motion  which  takes 
place   on   the    surface  of    the   earth. 

"  By  its  heat  are  produced  all  winds,  and  those  disturbances  in  the  electrical  equilibrium  of  the 
atmosphere  which  give  rise  to  the  phenomena  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  ****♦•  *  •  * 
*  *  The  change  of  longitude  in  twenty-four  mean  solar  hours  averages  0°  59'  8". 33, — but 
about  the  31st  of  December  it  amounts  to  1°  1'  9". 9,  and  about  the  1st  of  July  to  only  0°  5T 
11". 5.  Such  are  the  extreme  limits,  and  such  the  mean  value  of  the  sun's  apparent  angular  velocity 
in   its   annual   orbit." 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  apparent  motion,  or  angular  velocity  of  the  sun  in  December,  exceeds 
its  velocity  in  July  in  the  proportion  of  36  to  31;  and  that  the  apparent  diameter  of  its  disk  in 
December   exceeds   its  diameter   in   July    in    the   proportion   of   32   to   31. 

"  The  variation  of  the  sun's  angular  velocity,"  continues  Herschell,  "  is,  then,  much  greater  in 
proportion  than  that  of  its  distance  —  fully  twice  as  great.  Hence  we  are  led  to  conclude  that  the 
angular  velocity  is  in  the  inverse  proportion,  not  of  the  distance  simply,  but  of  the  square  of  the 
distance.     •••••• 

"The  fluctuation  of  the  sun's  distance,  [about  3,000,000  of  miles,]  amounts  to  nearly  stth  of  its 
mean  quantity,  and  consequently,  the  fluctuation  in  the  sun's  direct  heating  power  to  double  this, 
or   tjth   of   the   whole." 

Here  let  me  ask,  if  the  greater  proximity  of  the  sun,  when  in  his  perihelion,  compensates  for  the 
seven  or  eight  days  annual  absence  from  the  southern  hemisphere  1  This  question  has  either  been 
evaded,  or  answered  in  the  aflirmative  by  astronomers,  —  but  how  stands  the  fact?  It  has  been 
said  that  "the  greater  proximity  of  the  sun  compensates  exactly  for  his  more  rapid  description,  (or 
speed,)  and  thus  an  equilibrium  of  heat  is,  as  it  were,  maintained.  Were  it  not  for  this,  th« 
eccentricity   of   the  earth's   orbit   would    naturally    influence    the   transition    of    the   seasons." 

A  bare  glance  at  the  two  hemispheres  is  sufficient  to  show  the  inaccuracy  of  the  above  statement 
The  greater  comparative  heat  of  the  northern  hemisphere  is  well  known.  The  intense  cold  of  the 
high  southern  latitudes,  far  exceeding  the  cold  of  the  corresponding  latitudes  of  the  north,  is  a  great 
annoyance  to  every  navigator  that  has  approached  the  confines  or  entered  the  limits  of  the  antarctic 
or  southern   circle. 


w      APPENDIX.  139 

The  difference  of  animal  life  in  the  two  hemispheres  of  our  earth  being  chiefly  caused  by  the 
influence  of  the  parent  sun,  .  how  much  more  apparent  must  be  the  influence  of  that  immense 
luminary  in  the  neighboring  planets.  Are  the  planets  and  satellites  of  the  solar  system  inhabited  ? 
Doubtless  they  are,  but  from  their  different  distances  from  the  central  sun,  and  from  their  different 
densities,  they  must  be  peopled  by  a  totally  different  class  of  rational  beings  from  those  who  inhabit 
any  part  of  our  earth.  If  the  small  difference  of  3,000,000  of  miles  of  distance,  caused  by  the 
eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit  has  produced  even  limited  but  perceptible  effects  upon  our  earth, 
who  can  even  imagine  the  effect  upon  the  inferior  and  superior  planets  of  our  system  1  If  our 
southern  hemisphere  feel  the  sensible  approach  of  the  sun  in  his  perihelion,  and  if  the  sun's  proximity 
takes  effect  upon  its  surface,  how  much  greater  must  be  the  effect  upon  another  planet  moving  in  an 
inferior  orbit?  It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  human  imagination  to  conceive,  or  human 
ingenuity  to  frame,  a  rational  hypotheses  concerning  the  planetary  inhabitants  of  Mercury,  Venus, 
the  Moon  or  Mars.  As  to  the  Moon,  her  distance  from  the  sun,  being  the  same  as  that  of  the 
earth,  would  make  no  difference  in  that  respect;  —  but  the  immense  length  of  the  lunar  days  places 
her  out  of  all  rules  of  earthly  climates, — and  destroys  all  semblance  of  similarity  to  our  earth,  and 
renders  her  more  unlike  it  than  even  Mercury  or  Mars.  **********  gut  muc\i 
remains   unknown   upon   our  little   earth. 

Religion,  civilization,  and  science,  are  undoubtedly  destined  ultimately  to  overspread  the  habitable 
globe.  The  southern  zone  will,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  be  settled  by  an  enterprising,  industrious 
and  moral  people.  The  persevering  ingenuity  of  man  must  at  length  overcome  all  physical  and 
moral  obstacles  that  impede  the  march  of  improvement,  even  in  the  hitherto  semi-savage  southern 
zone. 

The  Araucanians  in  South  America,  and  the  New-Zealanders  upon  their  remote  islands  may,  at 
some  future  period,  become  civilized, — and  if  so,  will  be  among  the  first  in  rank.  As  they  are 
superior  to  their  neighbors  in  physical  and  intellectual  strength  and  energy,  they  would  present  the 
best  natural  stock  upon  which  to  engraft  the  scions  of  religion  and  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 
Separated  from  continental  neighbors  by  the  circumfluent  ocean,  as  are  the  New-Zealanders,  these 
robust  islanders  might,  if  civilized,  become  a  great  maritime  people.  They  would  be  the  sailors  of 
the   southern   zone.       But  will   this   happen   before   the   year  2000  ? 

It  may  be  of  use  to  nations  in  planting  colonies,  and  to  societies  to  know  that  life  is  a 
greater  struggle  against  the  elements  in  the  southern  than  in  the  northern  zone.  That  civilization 
there,    is   not    impossible,  but   much   more    difficult   than    in    the  corresponding  latitudes    at    the   north. 

Civilization  has  made  slow  progress,  until  recently,  in  the  northern  zone; — the  march  of  science 
is   met  at   the    outset  by  many   obstacles — among  which  may   be   mentioned: 

1.  The    intense  labor  required  of   careworn  man    to   provide  for   his    physical   wants. 

2.  The    amazing   shortness    of    the    period   of    human   life. 

The  immense  improvements  made  in  agriculture  and  in  the  arts,  during  the  last  half  century, 
and  the  still  increasing  energy  and  ingenuity  of  man,  will  do  away,  in  a  measure,  or  remove  the 
first  obstacle; — but  the  shortness  of  man's  earthly  existence  will  ever  be  a  bar  to  the  rapid  progress 
of  science.  The  only  remedy  for  this  is,  and  ever  has  been,  for  one  man  to  labor  and  another 
to  enter   upon  the   fruits   of   his  labor.       One  must  begin  where   the   other  came   to  an   end. 

The  facts  and  remarks  above  stated  lead  to  some  important  collateral  conclusions.  If  man,  as 
has   been    shown,  is   modified    and    influenced    by   the    air    he    breathes,    and    the    exhalations    from    the 


140  APPENDIX. 

soil  he  treads,  this  fact  will  account  for  the  diversity  and  vast  variety  of  the  races.  If  physical 
causes  have  such  overwhelming  effects,  why  seek  for  other  causes  of  variety  among  the  different 
tribes  of  men  t  The  fair  inference  from  this  mass  of  facts,  (although  collected  for  another  purpose, 
and    their  application    only   incidental,)    the   fair   inference,  I    say.    would  go    to    establish    the    unitt    of 

THE    HUMAN     RACE. 

It  may  be  humbling  to  human  pride  to  admit  that  men  degenerate  when  transplanted  from  one 
zone  to  another,  still  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  will  not  be  the  less  useful  and  important.  It  will 
arouse  the  zeal  and  stimulate  the  exertion  of  civilized  emigrants  to  the  southern  zone  to  overcome 
the   ever   present   causes   of   degeneracy   which    surround    them. 

It  may  derogate  from  what  is  called  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  by  making  man,  to  a 
limited  extent,  a  slave  of  the  elements;  —  but  let  us  remember  that  man  is  only  in  the  infancy  of 
his   existence,    that   he    is   only    beginning   to   live   while    on   the    earth. 

"His  knowledge  fitted  to  his  state  and  placcj 
His  time  a  moment  and  a  point  his  space." 

The  true  dignity  of  man  is  founded  upon  the  admitted  philosophical  fact  of  his  being  destined 
for   eternity,  —  for   immortality. 

No  view  of  the  human  race  from  the  earliest  history  of  civilized  or  savage  tribes  can  be 
complete;  and  every  theory  on  the  subject  must  be  subversive  of  sound  philosophy,  inconsistent  with 
the    wisdom    and    goodness    of    God,    and    deplorably   defective    that   does    not    admit    the    eternity  or 

MAN. 

Here  I  shall  close.  I  am  willing  to  wait  until  future  and  further  discoveries  are  made  in  the 
Austral  zone.  It  is  necessary  to  pause  until  some  of  the  Cimmerian  darkness  is  dispelled  that  now 
broods  over  the  "  unfinished  fates"  of  the  natives  of  New-Holland.  At  present,  little  more  is  known 
of  the    interior    of  that   island    than    of    the   surface   of  one   of  the    satellites    of   Saturn.  J.  L. 


It  is  unnecessary  to  add  any  thing  by  way  of  argument,  to  show  the  important  bearing  of  this 
mass   of   evidence   on    the   subject    of  the    volume,   except    a  single  remark. 

A  difference  has  been  shown  to  exist  between  the  Mexican  and  Peruvian  races,  although  they  were 
one  family.  If,  then,  evidence  can  be  produced  proving  that  natural  causes  effect  differences  in  the 
same   families   over   all    the    world,   the    point    is  established    that    original    unity  may  be    fairly  inferred. 

Again,  the  whole  tenor  of  the  main  volume  goes  to  prove  the  unity  of  the  human  race  by 
d  plain  and  credible  narrative  of  the  peopling  of  America.  This  essay  has  added  numerous  facts 
strongly    confirming    this  truth    and   drawn    from   other    sources.  J.  D.  Jr. 

Cincinnati,   Ohio,   February,    1839. 


APPENDIX.  141 


NOTE    C. 


VIDE      PAGE    97, 


Pexeg  means  udisrumpere  in  partes,"  and  this,  literally  translated,  has  given  rise  to  a  curious  and  wild 
hypothesis,  supposing  America  to  have  been  a  portion  of  the  old  world,  but  suddenly  sundered  from 
it  by  a  violent  convulsion  of  nature,  carrying  its  proportion  of  inhabitants  with  it.  The  greatest 
supporter  of  this  theory  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Catcott  of  England  who  follows  the  celebrated  biblical  critic, 
Bengelius,  whose  words  are  these,  in  his  Ordo  Tempnrum  :  "  Peleg  was  named  from  the  division  of 
the  earth,  which*  happened  in  his  days.  The  earth,  after  the  deluge,  was  divided  by  degrees,  by  a 
genealogical  and  political  division,  which  is  expressed  by  the  word  nxBJ  and  mai.  But  a  very 
different  kind  of  division  is  meant  by  the  word  ruSsu  (NepeLeGE),  namely,  a  physical  and  geographical 
division,  which  happened  at  once,  and  which  was  so  remarkable,  and  of  such  extent,  as  suitably  to 
answer  the  naming  the  patriarch  therefrom.  By  this  word  (peLeG)  that  kind  of  division  is  principally 
denoted,  which  is  applicable  to  land  and  water.  From  whence,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Peleg  signifies 
a  river;  and,  in  the  Greek,  Pelagos,  the  sea."  From  this  meaning  of  the  word,  Mr.  Catcott  says,  we 
may  conclude  that  the  earth  was  split,  or  divided  asunder,  for  a  very  great  extent,  and  the  sea  came 
between,  in  the  days  of  Peleg.  Now,  he  thinks,  from  the  disjunction  of  America  from  this  part  of 
the  world  by  a  great  sea,  it  may  be  allowed,  that  this  was  the  grand  division  intended  by  the 
passage  under  consideration.  And,  therefore,  he  supposes,  with  Bengelius,  "that  soon  after  the  confusion 
and  dispersion,  some  of  the  sons  of  Ham  went  out  of  Africa  into  that  part  of  America,  which  now 
looks  towards  Africa:  and  the  earth  being  divided,  or  split  asunder,  in  the  days  of  Peleg,  they,  with 
their  posterity,  the  Americans,  were,  for  many  ages,  separated  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  &c."  Mr. 
Catcott,  in  order  to  strengthen  this  explanation,  brings  two  quotations  from  two  ancient  writers;  one 
from  Plato,  and  another  from  ^Elian's  History  of  various  things.  Plato  introduces  an  event,  which 
happened  in  the  most  early  ages  of  the  world,  in  his  Timcsus,  of  a  vast  tract  of  land,  or  an  island 
greater  than  Lybia  and  Asia,  situated  beyond  the  bounds  of  Africa  and  Europe,  which,  by  the 
concussion  of  an  earthquake,  was  swallowed  up  in  the  ocean.  Plato  introduces  this  fact,  as  related 
by  Solon,  who,  while  he  was  in  Egypt,  had  heard  it  from  an  old  Egyptian  priest;  when  he 
discoursed  with  him  concerning  the  most  ancient  events.  The  priest  informed  him,  "that  this  island 
was  called  Atlantis,  and  was  larger  than  Lybia  and  Asia;  that  it  had  an  easy  passage  from  it  to 
many  other  islands,  and  from  these  to  all  that  continent,  which  was  opposite;  that,  within  the  mouth 
or  entrance  of  the  ocean,  there  was  a  gulph,  with  a  narrow  entry  ;  but  that  the  land,  which 
surrounded  the  sea,  called  Pelagos, '  where  the  division  was  made,  might  justly  be  called  a  continent. 
In  after  times,  there  happened  a  dreadful  earthquake  and  inundation  of  water,  which  continued  for 
the  space  of  a  whole  day  and  night,  and  this  island,  Atlantis,  being  covered  and  overwhelmed  by  the 
waves,   sunk   beneath    the   ocean,  and   disappeared,  &c." 

The  other  narrative,  from  JElian,  is  as  follows,  which  corroborates  this,  and,  indeed,  would  inclin8 
one  to  believe  the  tradition  of  so  great  a  catastrophe  could  not  arise  without  some  just  foundation;  he 
says  :    "  Theopompus  relates   a   certain  discourse,  that  passed  between  Midas,  the  Phrygian,  and  Silenus, 


142  APPENDIX. 

when  these  two  hud  discoursed  of  many  things,  Silenus,  above  all,  tells  Midas,  that  Europe,  Asia  and 
Lybia  ought  to  be  considered  as  islands,  which  the  ocean  wholly  surrounded;  and  that  the  part  of  the 
world,  which  lay  beyond  this,  ought  only  to  be  esteemed  the  continent;  as  it  was  of  an  immense  ex- 
tent, and  nourished  very  different,  and  vastly  larger  kinds  of  animals,  than  this  side  of  the  world." 
Then  Mr.  Catcott  says,  "  from  what  has  been  offered,  we  may  conclude,  that  Africa  and  America  were 
once  joined,  or,  at  least,  separated  from  each  other,  but  by  a  very  narrow  gulph;  and  that,  some  time 
after  the  flood,  the  earth  was  divided,  or  parted  asunder,  probably  by  means  of  an  earthquake,  and 
then  this  middle  land  sunk   beneath    the  ocean." 

This   hypothesis   however  is  untenable   on   many  grounds. 

1.  It  is  not  a  natural  method  of  accounting  for  facts.  We  see  nothing  of  the  kind  now  occurring. 
It  must  have  been  a  miraculous  event.  And  when  natural  methods  can  be  used  to  produce  a 
given  end   miracles  arc   not  wrought. 

2.  It  is  unsupported  by  proper  evidence.  We  have  no  authentic  account  of  any  such  disruption. 
Two  heathen  sages  think  it  may  have  been  so.  If  it  occurred,  it  must  have  been  recorded  both 
by   revelation   and   tradition  in  the  old  and  new  worlds,  but  we  find  no  such   testimony. 

3.  Human  life  could  not  have  survived  the  shock  of  such  a  convulsion,  and  it  is  therefore  an 
unsatisfactory  mode  of  accounting  for   the  peopling  of   America. 

4.  On  this  hypothesis,  there  is  no  means  of  accounting  for  the  strange  distinction  between  tho 
civilized  and  the   savage  aborigines  of   America. 


OF 


fan  ^ 

:■■ 


nil 


w  •■  ■»■■.  ■     pr • 

X-  - 

=^ 

# 

■ 

. 

^Meric^* 


